HOANI, Comoros (AFP) — Colonel Mohamed Bacar, the self-proclaimed leader of the Indian Ocean island of Anjouan, told AFP Wednesday he was ready for talks with the federal authorities of the Comoros.
But he warned that if his island was invaded by a multinational African Union force gathering on the neighbouring island of Moroni, he had enough men and weapons to defend themselves.
Bacar was speaking to AFP and France 24 a day after the first AU troops arrived on Moroni to make good on the organisation's promise to help Comoran federal forces recapture the rebel isle.
"We have always been open to dialogue, so why the emphasis on a military operation today?" he said.
But he warned: "If we have to fight, we have enough arms and enough men."
The AU decided to lend military support to the government of the Union of the Comoros, which comprises Anjouan, Moheli and the island of Grande Comore, to oust Bacar.
Bacar has run the island since 2002, but declared himself re-elected in a June 2007 poll that was not recognised by either the federal Comoros authorities or the African Union.
During the interview at his home in Hoani, his tone was in turns defiant and conciliatory.
"I am ready to die to defend the right to democracy in Anjouan, we are ready to fight the invaders and to defend Anjouan. We are only calling for the law to be respected," he said.
But he added: "It is never too late for peace and to do the right thing. What we need is to organise a round table on the real problems of the Comoros, between Comorians, to put everything on the table and discuss it.
"And if the round table decides that we need new elections in Anjouan, then we will have elections."
Asked about reports of human rights violations, in particular accounts of torture, he dismissed the reports as "manipulations" organised by Sambi.
"Nobody is tortured here," he insisted, despite witness reports given by people who have fled to the the main island of Grande Comore.
President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi said at the AU summit at Addis Abeba in January that he was ready to re-establish federal rule on the island by force.
On February 20 the AU committed to giving him military backing for such an operation.
A first party of Tanzanian troops, part of what will be a multinational AU force, arrived in Moroni on Tuesday.
Libya, Senegal and Sudan have also pledged troops, while France and the United States are providing logistical support.
"Among the countries who say they are ready to massacre the Anjouan people, some have never had an election themselves and they want to give us lessons in democracy," said Bacar.
"Those who want to justify this landing talk of the election last June as being supposedly illegal, but we Anjouanais are calling loud and clear for the strict application of the law."
Bacar called on all sides to come to their senses, arguing that even if there was a military landing on the island, it would solve nothing in the long run.
The tiny and fractious archipelago, which lies between Africa's southeast coast and Madagascar, has survived 19 coups or attempts since it acquired independence from France in 1975.
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