Comoros President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi has signed an African Union-brokered deal, allowing him to stay on power as "interim president" until November. Then, late elections are to be held. According to a statement by the Comoran Union presidency, the agreement that ends the archipelago's constitutional crisis was signed in Moroni, the capital, today. An election timetable is key to the agreement.

The Comoros autonomous islands will hold legislative and local government elections on 2 August, the permanent representative of the African Union (AU) in Moroni, Mourad Taiati has told journalists. The AU official, who was speaking at the end of a meeting in Moroni with the Comoran Foreign Relations Minister, Ahmed Ben Said Jaffar, stressed that the elections were the expression of a “fervent wish” of the Comoran authorities.

The Democratic Front of the Comoros has appealed to the head of state, Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, to mobilize the people against attempts by France to hold a referendum in March with a view to transforming the Island of Mayotte into its overseas territory.

Moussa Toybou has been confirmed the winner of Anjouan's hotly contested presidential run-off by the Constitutional Court, beating his challenger, Mohamed Djanfari. Mr. Toybou, 46, polled 52.42% of the votes against Mr. Djanfari's 47.58%, official results showed. Unlike his challenger, who was formerly the Vice President of the Comoros federal government, Toybou had been a complete novice in politics.