Soldier of misfortune.

At the end of September, the Indian Ocean islands of the Comoros were once again rocked by a mercenary-led coup. A week later, following loud appeals to the French Government to intervene, the coup was quashed and the elected President resumed power. What lies behind this violent struggle to gain control over the tiny republic? Francois Misser and Anver Versi have some answers.

The tiny Islamic Federal Republic of Comoros, consisting of three islands and 600,000 people is notable for two things: The highly flagrant lyang lyang flowers used in the manufacture of perfumes, and coup attempts. The latest attempt was the 17th in the country's 20 years of independence from France.

The man who carried out the putsch against the 80 year old President, Said Mohamed Djohar, is the notorious soldier of fortune, Bob Denard. The 66 year old Denard is no stranger either to the Comoros or coups. This was his third coup in the islands. In between, for 11 years he lived like a sultan, sharing power with the man he installed as President, Ahmed Abdallah, who in turn was replaced by the current incumbent, President Djohar.

The latest putsch began on September 28 when Denard (who was under orders to remain in France pending investigations for alleged murder) and 32 mercenaries burst into the capital, Moroni and swiftly routed the small Comorian army. Some soldiers loyal to the Government fought back but most joined the rebels. The President was imprisoned at the Kadani military base, some 5km from Moroni.

Captain Combo Ayouba a long time associate of Mr Denard's, who had been in jail until three days before the putsch, pronounced himself the new leader of the islands. He accused Mr Djohar of corruption and acting against the constitution. He said the former leader would be put on trial.

Mr Caambi el Yashourtu, the deposed Prime Minister found refuge in the French Embassy from where he appealed to the French Government to intervene. Initially, France refused but placed its troops in the region on full alert. The neighbouring island of Mayotte is an important French naval base.

Exactly one week later, and following strong pressure to do so from Francophone African countries, the French sent in paratroopers who asked Mr Denard to surrender. He gave himself up and was quickly spirited out of the country, most likely back to France. Mr Djohar was released and flown to the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion for a medical check-up.

This episode closed yet another chapter in the long-running saga involving Comorian politics, Mr Denard and the French attitude to its former colony.

Despite his failure, an aura of mystique still surrounds "Colonel" Bob Denard. He is a former French naval officer who has used several aliases in his adventurous life: He was Gilbert Bourgeaud in Gabon and Colonel Maurin during a reconnaissance trip to Benin. He was heavily involved in civil war in The Congo during the 1960s, led a group of mercenaries in a failed coup attempt to topple the regime of President Ahmed Sekou Toure in Guinea in 1970 and made another failed attempt in Benin in 1977.

His crowning glory was the coup in the Comoros in 1978. At independence in 1975, the elected President Ahmed Abdallah was overthrown after less than a month in office by a young populist, Mr Ali Soilih who had employed the services of Mr Denard.

Mr Abdallah repaired to exile in Paris where he worked out a deal with the same mercenary commander who had helped oust him. Three years later, leading a team of battle-hardened European mercenaries, Mr Denard duly overwhelmed the islands's small and ill organised army and restored Mr Abdallah to power.

He accepted President Abdallah's offer to live on the islands and help protect him. For 11 years, from 1978 to 1989, he virtually ruled the islands, sharing power with the official President, Ahmed Abdallah. He converted to Islam and took the name Said Mustafa M'Hadjou. He is said to have masterminded several other coup attempts in other African countries, including Ghana in 1982 from the sanctuary of his island retreat. He is also reported to have made common cause with the apartheid regime and to have used the islands as a conduit for arms to the RENAMO rebels in Mozambique. He also purchased a large farm and dabbled in the tourist business with South African entrepreneurs.

In 1989, following violent demonstrations against a referendum which purported to show massive support for a third, six-year term of office for President Abdallah, a heated dispute between the President and Mr Denard ended with the assassination of Mr Abdallah.

Mr Denard admitted being in the room when the President was shot but denied that he had pulled the trigger.

The President of the Supreme Court, Mr Said Mohamed Djohar, a half-brother of ex-President Ali Soilih, took over as Acting President only to find himself held captive by Mr Denard and his mercenaries who effectively took power.

The mercenaries were internationally condemned and there were huge demonstrations demanding their expulsion. France eventually took action, assembling a naval task force at the nearby French colony of Mayotte as a show of strength. French paratrooper arrived at the capital Moroni a few days later and Mr Denard and 25 other mercenaries were flown to South Africa.

After one or two other mercenary invasion scares, Mr Djohar won the 1993 elections convincingly and had begun an economic reform programme when Mr Denard once again descended on the capital in September.

Despite Mr Denard's vehement claims that he has always been a free agent, there is strong suspicion that he has acted as an agent for both France and South Africa.

France has protested that it has no motives to control the destiny of the Comoros but, although the islands' economic potential is tiny, it does have a valuable strategic position in the Indian Ocean. In addition, it has consistently laid territorial claims on the neighbouring island of Mayotte, which voted to remain a French Department in 1986.

Virtually all the coups carried out by Mr Denard, close observers of the situation claim, have come following strong moves by the Comorian Government to integrate Mayotte into the Republic.

In 1986, M Bernard Pons, the French Minister for Overseas Territories under the Chirac Government emphatically declared: "There is no debate and there can be none on the question of Mayotte belonging to France."

This was at variance with the stance then taken by the French President, Francois Mitterand. Perhaps the French tune has not changed much under the new Chirac Presidency.