SUMMARY
The conflict over government in Comoros took the form of a coup by the Presidential Guard, under the leadership of the infamous mercenary Bob Denard. Following the suspicious death of President Abdallah on the night of 26-27 November 1989, the Presidential guard seized control of the government in a bloody coup. Following pressure by France and South Africa, however, Denard agreed to surrender and leave the island, ending the coup.
IN DEPTH
A short-lived coup
From independence from France in 1975, the Comoros were characterised by chronic political instability and poverty. In 1978 Ahmed Abdallah, supported by the infamous mercenary Bob Denard and 50 of his men, seized power in a coup. The mercenaries remained on the islands where they trained and led the Presidential guard (GP). The GP had a force of between 300 and 700 men, who answered to the president only, thus operating outside the chain of command of the Comorian Armed Forces. Denard and his men had a very favoured economic status on the islands and became deeply involved in Comorian business activities. In 1989 this situation was set to change. France and South Africa - previous backers of Denard and the Presidential Guard, but now with new reform-minded governments, embarrassed by the excesses of the Guard - pressured Abdallah to dispense with the mercenaries. Abdallah agreed to both expel Denard and his fellow officers by the end of the year and to absorb the GP into the regular army.
It is widely believed that it was Denard who, faced with deportation, shot the president to death on the night of 26-27 November 1989. Denard himself denies these charges, conceding only that he was in the presidents office when he was killed, but claiming that the shooting was an accident. However, the events of the following days strongly support the theory of Denards direct involvement in the killing. On 29 November, two days after the assassination, Denard and the GP seized control of the government in a coup, ousting the provisional president and installing Mohammed Said Djohar as Comoros’ third president in less than a week. 27 members of the armed forces were killed in the coup, hundreds of people were arrested and all journalists were confined to their hotels.
The take-over prompted both France and South Africa to isolate Denard, and consequently the whole island state, cutting off all aid. France also began a military build-up on the neighbouring island Mahoré. Negotiations were subsequently held, with the mercenary leaders, France and South Africa taking part. Severe pressure was put on the mercenaries, and Denard eventually conceded defeat, withdrawing peacefully from the island on 15 December 1989.
