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Article: French Forces on Alert Over Comoros Coup Try; Talks Underway on Evacuation of Tourists
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- September 30, 1995
- Author:
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As forces loyal to French mercenary Bob Denard continued to battle
for control of the tiny Indian Ocean republic of the Comoro Islands
today, France placed its armed forces in the region on alert and
negotiated for the safe evacuation of hundreds of tourists.
The coup attempt is a reprise of three previous efforts by the
legendary Denard to take over the former French colony where he
wielded power behind the scenes for a decade until his ouster in
1989. The deadly exploits by the French gun-for-hire, now 66, span
three decades on the continent. South Africa, under a previous white-
minority government, once had Denard on its payroll and gave him
sanctuary.
But today, officials of the new ...