Comoro Islands High Court Justice Is Held After Heading Failed Coup

The chief Supreme Court justice was arrested after leading a failed coup by the court’s judges and politicians, the government announced Sunday.

The Supreme Court ruled Saturday that President Said Mohammed Djohar was no longer capable of performing his duties and declared Chief Justice Ibrahim Halidi interim president of the Indian Ocean island group.

But Djohar said Sunday that the coup had been foiled and that its leaders “will answer for their acts.” Halidi was reportedly placed under house arrest, but there were no immediate details on what charges he may face.

The Supreme Court accused Djohar of putting the nation in danger by failing to properly counter efforts by one of the republic’s islands, Moheli, to secede. The court also cited Djohar’s poor health and “a certain lack of lucidity.”

Djohar, believed to be at least 73, was elected in March, 1990, to replace President Ahmed Abdallah Abderrahmane. Abderrahmane had been assassinated in November, 1989, during a dispute with French mercenary Bob Denard, whose Presidential Guard controlled the republic.

Denard was forced to turn the guards over to French forces in December, 1989, and left the republic. French military personnel still play an influential role in the republic’s armed forces.

The Comoros lie between Mozambique and Madagascar off southern Africa’s east coast. Three of the islands--Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli--make up the Comoro Republic.