The Comoros has begun the extradition to France of seven alleged mercenaries accused of taking part in a botched coup attempt in December 2001, news agencies reported on Tuesday. The first of the seven suspects was extradited on Saturday to face trial, while the others will be escorted out of the Indian Ocean archipelago in pairs on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, Reuters said. On 19 December 2001, a group of 13 armed men, mainly French nationals, briefly seized control of the smallest Comoran island, Moheli, in an attempt to overthrow the then military regime of President Azali Assoumani. The men were, however, ambushed by Comoran soldiers who shot dead three of them, and residents of Moheli reportedly beat three others to death. The seven remaining men have been detained without trial in the capital Moroni since their capture. Police in the Comoros told AFP after the coup bid that the men said they had been recruited by intermediaries acting for Comoran former interior minister Said Achim Achirafi, who lives in exile in France. The coup-prone archipelago recently decided on a power-sharing arrangement which gives greater autonomy to the three smaller islands in the Indian Ocean republic.
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