The Alliance for the Liberation of Anjouan, made up of the Comoran military supported by AU forces from Tanzania and Sudan, has presented rebels supporting Col. Mohamed Bacar with a 48-hour ultimatum to surrender, according to a statement issued Thursday evening in Mutsamudu, capital of the secessionist island.
The command of the Comoran military and AU forces also asked political leaders and former companions of Bacar, as well as Anjouan gendarmes, to surrender their weapons within 48 hours, after which the coalition forces will be ordered to use all appropriate means to capture them.
Meanwhile, the military has published a list of 18 wanted personalities of Col. Bacar’s regime, including his sister Fatima Bacar, Mohamed Abdou Madi and Jaffar Salim, Anjouan government spokesman and Interior Minister respectively.
The search was launched as Col. Bacar and 22 of his followers boarded a Transall plane of the French military at Pamandzi airport in Mayotte, bound for Reunion where they are to be presented to the French judiciary on charges of illegal entry into French territory and possession of weapons.
Speaking at a religious ceremony marking the birthday of Prophet Muhammad, Comoran President Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi demanded that France extradite the fugitive.
Bacar, who unilaterally declared himself President of Anjouan, one the three autonomous unions that make up the union of Comoros, was routed from power 25 March by a combined Comoros and AU forces. Panapress.
