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C O N F I D E N T I A L ANTANANARIVO 000023 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/E AND AF/FO 
PARIS FOR D'ELIA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/04/2017 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL CN
SUBJECT: COMORAN UNION PRESIDENT SAMBI AND ANJOUAN'S BACAR 
AT IMPASSE 
 
REF: 06 ANTAN 1441 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador James D. McGee for Reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
¶1. (C)  SUMMARY:  In separate conversations with Union of the 
Comoros President Sambi and Anjouan Island "President" Bacar, 
Ambassador and DCM encouraged dialogue to resolve the ongoing 
dispute over security responsibility (reftel).  A calmly 
intransigent Bacar insisted he had a right to have armed 
forces and claimed Sambi failed to communicate with him. 
President Sambi assured us he wants to avoid military 
confrontation, but said "I cannot be a President without 
power," over the entire country.  Sambi averred that 
separatist sentiment in Anjouan had all but died in the ten 
years since 1997, and again stated that the unpopular Bacar 
would surely lose a fair election for island president in 
April.  The African Union (AU) has already denied Sambi's 
request for mediation.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Sambi Wants Development, Not Conflict 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C)  An animated Union President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi told 
the DCM via telephone January 4 that the impasse with Island 
president Bacar was entirely about weapons and power.   Sambi 
claimed sole constitutional authority over the armed forces 
of the Union of the Comoros, and reiterated that island 
governments require only "internal security equipment." 
Noting that neither Grand Comore nor Moheli island security 
forces had military hardware, President Sambi said Bacar must 
accept that Anjouan forces disarm and allow the National 
Development Army (AND) Union forces to deploy to the port and 
airports to take responsibility for border surveillance. 
Repeating his campaign promises to focus on economic 
development, Sambi lamented several times, "I cannot be a 
president without power." 
 
¶3. (C)  Referring to his recent visit to Anjouan (reftel), 
President Sambi said he was much more popular than Bacar in 
Anjouan.  He said Bacar exercised control by force and 
represented a tiny minority of separatists.  Sambi, who 
easily won the primary and national votes in Anjouan in 2006, 
implied that Bacar could not win reelection fairly.  A native 
of Anjouan who owns several businesses there, Sambi said the 
Anjouanese population of 2007 is very different from those 
who supported secession in 1997.  His democratic election in 
May 2006, he claimed, was a mandate from all Comorans who 
share his desire to prioritize development and poverty 
reduction.  Sambi said he wanted to avoid confrontation with 
Bacar, and thus had requested international assistance.  The 
AU, having invested substantially in peacekeeping during the 
April/May 2006 elections, was reluctant to return to Comoros 
as of late 2006.  Sambi's latest requests to the AU had not 
yet received a reply. 
 
Bacar, "I want my own army" 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C)  In a separate telephone conversation with the 
Ambassador January 3, Island "President" (read: governor) 
Mohamed Bacar insisted he had the right to his own army and 
refused to give up his weapons.  He made a vague reference to 
wanting meetings restarted (which he had walked out of in 
mid-December) and attempted to scapegoat Sambi as an 
extremist by attributing comments about "jihad" to the Union 
President.  Bacar further claimed that his confiscation of 
Union military hardware was because he had not been informed 
about the delivery.  In short, Bacar's message was "I want my 
own army, and everything will be fine if I can keep the 
weapons I already have." 
 
¶5. (C)  COMMENT:  Without some international assistance, the 
Sambi/Bacar impasse will continue as the April island 
elections approach.  The former appears unlikely to disarm 
Anjouan by force; the latter will not voluntarily disarm 
because, among other things, he would not be able to rig his 
own reelection.  The Ambassador offered to "observe" new 
talks if President Sambi thought USG involvement would be 
useful.  Given the precedent of Anjouan's 1997 secession and 
the fact that other island police forces do not possess 
military hardware, Post supports Sambi's argument that Bacar 
must disarm and defer to the Union Army under Sambi's 
command.  The question is how.  END COMMENT. 
McGEE