Defeated mercenary Bob Denard was flown out of the Comoros on Friday to face trial in France as Comorian soldiers who had backed his short-lived coup cheered their release under an amnesty.
But the man Denard ousted in last week's coup, President Said Mohamed Djohar, appeared unlikely to return to power in the Indian Ocean archipelago.Prime Minister Mohamed Caabi el Yachroutou convened a meeting of a new government that does not include Djohar, who was evacuated to nearby La Reunion by the French forces that overturned the coup.
Asked about the possibility of Djohar returning to office, Yachroutou replied: "I don't think so. With everything that's happened, it will be very difficult. The country has had a shock."
Denard, who surrendered to the French force Thursday, was flown in custody from La Reunion to the French military base in Djibouti. He is expected to arrive in France early Saturday and immediately appear before a judge.
In Moroni, life was returning to normal. People filled markets, and wooden fishing boats dotted the bays. At the central mosque, 2,000 people said a special prayer to give thanks for deliverance.
French troops continued to check cars but reduced their visibility and began to pull out. The first 70 Foreign Legionnaires were flown back to their base in nearby Mayotte, the French-held island in the Comoros.
About 300 Comorian soldiers who had joined Denard raised their arms and shouted in joy after walking free from Moroni's Hahaya airport, where they were kept overnight under the watch of French commandos.
Officers who supported the coup, including Capt. Combo Ayouba, the main ringleader after Denard, also were freed.
However, four mercenaries who came with Denard were arrested Friday. They were found hiding on the trawler he used to approach the islands last week.
Several of the freed soldiers said that foreign forces, mercenary or French, should leave the Comorians alone.
"First, the mercenaries come and make trouble," said Corp. Asman Hamadi Soco, 32. "Then the French come and make more trouble. They shoot people, take possessions, damage the airport. They treat us like nothing because they can dance in here anytime."
The French pullout was to continue Saturday, but some personnel were to remain in Moroni to help organize the Comorian Defense Forces, which had mainly rallied behind Denard.
Djohar, in his 80s and accused of corruption by coup supporters, was evacuated to La Reunion after about 800 French commandos invaded the Comoros on Wednesday to reverse the coup. He was hospitalized for medical tests.
The president's daughter, Lelie Djohar, told La Reunion's Journal newspaper in an interview published Friday that the French made him leave.
"They told him that for reasons of security, he should leave," Djo-har said. "They didn't leave him the choice of staying or going."