In Lesotho in 1998 and in the Comoro Islands this year, it backed military intervention to restore democracy.

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The government of the Comoro islands was overthrown by the army in a coup that was widely condemned.

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Such a scenario was played out recently in the Comoro islands, a former French colony off Africa's east coast.

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To Mr. Jacques Chirac, France's president, the Comoro islands are a French responsibility.

CNN: HE BRITISH FORCES LANDED

Soldiers from the African Union prepared to invade Anjouan, one of the Comoro Islands off the coast of Mozambique.

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In the 1996 crash, the Ethiopian Airlines 767 was attempting a water landing off the Grand Comoro Island during a hijacking.

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Pirates have caused havoc among ships traversing vast parts of the Indian Ocean, as far east as the Seychelles and as far south as the Comoro islands.

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