Mutsamudu, Comoros - Separatists seeking a return to French rule declared the independence of the Comoran island of Anjouan at a mass rally yesterday. They announced an "autonomous administration" would be set up today to open links to France.
The crowd of some 7,000 who rallied in the central square of Mutsamudu, Anjouan's main town, marched to the governor's palace - abandoned on Saturday - and hoisted the flags of France and the sultans who ruled Anjouan in pre-colonial days, tearing up the Comoran flag that had been flying there. - (AFP)