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Article: French Troops Land on Comoros, Seize Control From Coup Plotters
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- October 5, 1995
- Author:
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After releasing unharmed the kidnapped Comoran president, French
mercenary Bob Denard appeared ready to abandon his coup attempt on
the Comoro Islands today under pressure from nearly 1,000 French
troops who stormed ashore at dawn to restore order on the Indian
Ocean archipelago.
France's armed intervention to suppress the six-day uprising met
with little resistance from the islands' 500,000 inhabitants. Denard,
a 66-year-old veteran of African conflicts who has been involved in
three previous coups on the islands and is married to a Comoran, gave
orders to the 500 Comoran soldiers and some three dozen mercenaries
under his command not to contest the French invasion force.
Denard first vowed ...