Washington, DC — Less than two months after former military ruler Said Abeid was deposed, another coup d'etat was reported Monday on the Comoro island of Anjouan, situated in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa. The military committee that seized power on August 9 announced on Radio Anjouan that Ahmed Aboubacar Foundi is now the "first leader of the authority" on the island.

Avoiding the term 'putsch' and referring to the takeover as "a change of authority", the radio urged residents to remain calm. Local witnesses say no shots were fired but the streets were deserted and shops closed.

Foundi's appointment, said the military, was designed "to guarantee the future, protect the population from any adventurism and consolidate the national process which guarantees the widest autonomy of each island."

In 1974, Anjouan voted for independence from France and joined the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoro Islands, which also includes Grande Comore and Moheli. But in 1997, it tried to break away from the federation and has since seen no fewer than twenty coups. A fourth island, Mayotte, remains under French control.

The statement on Radio Anjouan also said Major Combo Ayouba, deputy head of the federal army, is now in charge of the military in Anjouan, adding that lack of cohesion among soldiers there, "posed a grave threat to the island and a real danger to peace and security."

Major Ayouba, a native of Anjouan, returned to the breakaway island in August, reportedly to celebrate his wedding. But gendarmerie chief Mohamed Bacar accused the federal government in Moroni, Grande Comoro, of having sent Ayouba to stage Monday's coup. "According to information we have now," said Bacar, "the coup d'etat was remote-controlled from Moroni." He also said that his forces did not want "to act immediately to avoid bloodshed but reprisal is being prepared."