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4.3

Comoros

islands on 10 June 2007. But President Mo- AU Electoral and Security Assistance Mission to (MAES) hamed Bacar of refused to relinquish power at the end of his term. Following the fed- eral government’s appointment of an interim • Authorization Date 9 May 2007 (Communiqué of the AU Peace and Security Council) president for Anjouan in early May 2007, forces • Strength as of Troops: 400 loyal to Bacar attacked federal offices and 30 September 2008 clashed with federal forces stationed there, killing two. That same month, in response to the continuing tensions, the deployed its second peace operation to the island, MAES, Following the removal of renegade presi- with a mandate to provide security during the dent Mohamed Bacar of Anjouan in early 2008, election period. the tripartite government of Comoros was able While Grand Comore and Moheli chose to to complete the election cycle that started in delay their 10 June elections due to the unrest, 2007. The elections took place largely without Anjouan proceeded on schedule, with the defi- incident, thanks to support from the AU Elec- ant Bacar claiming 89 percent of the votes in an toral and Security Assistance Mission to Co- election deemed illegitimate by the interna- moros (MAES), deployed since 2007. tional community. In the face of Bacar’s con- When separatist violence broke out in Co- tinued intransigence, in late 2007 the African moros in 1997, the Organization of African Union broadened MAES’s mandate to include Unity (OAU) intervened by deploying the Ob- enforcement of travel and financial sanctions server Mission to Comoros (OMIC) in 1998. on Bacar and his supporters. The OAU supported talks that culminated in In early 2008, Comoros and MAES forces the Fomboni Accords in 2001, which provided began amassing in Moheli and, on the morning for a referendum on a new constitution in ad- of 25 March, stormed Anjouan, taking control vance of national elections. Under the Fomboni of the island and forcing Bacar to flee. Follow- Accords, each island (Anjouan, Grand Comore, ing the removal of Bacar, who ultimately sought and Moheli) has substantial autonomy, with its refuge in , two rounds of elections were own president and parliament, operating under held in Anjouan, in June and July, with Moussa an overall four-year rotating presidency. At the Toybou winning the presidency. The elections request of the Comoros president, in 2006 the were considered free and fair; though MAES AU Mission in Support of Elections in Comoros troops responded to several disruptions, there (AMISEC) was deployed to the island to over- was no violence. see the election for an overall Comoros president. At the end of 2008, Comoros remained sta- The 2006 election was to be followed by ble, with the AU force continuing to provide sup- elections for new presidents on each of the three port to the newly elected government.

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