US Paratroopers Land On Comoros

On Wednesday US paratroopers landed on Moheli island, near East African shores, which is part of the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoro Islands. The al-Jazeera TV station in Qatar reports that some 100 US servicemen have arrived on board a special cargo plane to assume control over all law enforcers of Comoros, including the police, army and gendarmes. Leaflets reading that the USA is extending to Comoros the anti-terrorism operation, which was launched in Afghanistan, have been spread over the island. The leaflets accuse the republic's president, Azzali Assoumani, of supporting terrorists. Colonel Assoumani took office in Comoros in April 1999 as a result of a military coup d'etat. Comoros is a member of the League of Arab States and a party to the all-Arab pact on general defence. In keeping with this document, all the League members are considered to be in the state of belligerency against any state attacking one of its members. In the meantime, a spokesman for the US embassy in neighbouring Kenya has declared that he has no information about the US military operation on the Comoro Islands.