Posted on 12/19/2001 8:59:59 AM PST by Wallaby
Are they getting paid by the letter?
The "attackers", according to witnesses, were a group of about 100 men, some white, some black, several masked, who arrived at dawn on the island at three points and seized the police and gendarme posts.They explained their mission in leaflets, written in French, and topped with a US Department of Defence letterhead complete with bald eagle motif.
NAIROBI, Kenya
"We have no idea what's going on," the official said, who asked not to be further identified. "We were told they were not armed and that they said they were from the FBI." The official said contingent of Comorian soldiers had arrived in Moheli and had not met any resistance. He said members of President Azali Assoumane's government were waiting for more information. |
International attention focussed briefly on the Comoros after the August 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania allegedly masterminded by Osama bin Laden and carried out by his al-Qaida network. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Comorian indicted by a U.S. court for his alleged role in the Nairobi bombing in which 12 Americans were killed, is a Comorian. He is a fugitive, and his name figures on a list of 22 most wanted terrorists issued Oct. 10 by President George W. Bush. Assoumane's government has repeatedly denied reports of al-Qaida cells in Comoros. Moheli is about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Grande Comore, the main island on which Moroni is located. Three of the four islands in the Indian Ocean archipelago obtained independence from France in 1975. The fourth, Mayotte, remained a French overseas territory. Since then the Comoros Republic has undergone 19 coups or attempted coups, some carried out by French mercenaries. A separatist crisis erupted in Comoros in July 1997 when Moheli and the third island, Anjouan, announced plans to secede in an attempt to achieve a status similar to that of Mayotte, which had voted against independence. France rebuffed the attempt, and government troops were not able to put down the secession. Anjouan seceded in August 1997 and has since undergone its own coups. Assoumane seized power in a bloodless coup in April 1999. |
I don't think France is involved, but French is one of the official languages of the Comoros.
Random non-affiliated French guys apparently invade the island sporadically, setting off pseudo-counter-counter-coupes until some Portugese mercenary shows up and claims it for his Balinese warlord employer.
It is rumored that right now, there's a Sri Lankan para-military force under the employ of former chess great Bobby Fisher steaming towards the island in captured civil war submersibles.
Fortunately, Coppola's there with a film crew.
"A native of Comoros, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, has been indicted by a U.S. court for his alleged role in the Nairobi bombing in which 12 Americans and 207 Kenyans were killed. He is a fugitive whose name figures on a list of 22 most wanted terrorists issued Oct. 10 by U.S. President George W. Bush."
If bin Laden and other al Qaeda people get to a port on the Pakistani coast like Karachi, they might be able to hide away in a boat that goes to a place like the Comoros. Who knows? Maybe they've already done so.
He's a fugitive, eh? I think that almost certainly means that he is -- or at least was until recently -- in Afghanistan. Might make a good guide for escaping terrorists.
...We will make their couriers disappear. If we can find out how they eat, or play or receive rewards, or where they sleep -- we will go there and kill them by surprise." --- Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey
Those bastages!
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the leader of this invasion spoke French without an accent, so I think the most likely scenario would be another coupe.
Three of the invaders were killed, so I do hope they weren't Americans.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.