A Man and His Dog

A soldier of fortune takes over the land of ilang-ilang

Until last spring, the Comoro Islands were known, if at all, chiefly as a source of ilang-ilang, an exotic flower whose extract is widely used in French perfumes. Now the Comoros are called the Mercenary Isles. Last spring the four tiny specks of volcanic ash off the coast of Mozambique were invaded by a motley troop of white soldiers of fortune, who took over the hapless islands lock, stock, and ilang-ilang.

The Comoros have proved an ideal laboratory for bizarre experiments in government. Since 1975 they had been ruled by quixotic Ali Soilih, 41, a bald-headed leftist who seized power shortly after the islands became independent from France. Soilih began his extraordinary career by promising socialist equality to his 300,000 poverty-stricken, racially mixed countrymen. But after deteriorating relations with France resulted in a cutoff of aid and his treasury began to run dry, Soilih tried something different. His new start amounted to government by hallucination.

Instead of paying bureaucrats, Soilih sacked them and loaded the civil service with illiterate teenagers. Then he outraged the large Muslim population by ordering women to stop wearing veils and by banning traditional wedding feasts. Last January he directed his loyal youth brigade to kill every dog in the islands. They scoured villages, tied the captive canines to the back of a Land-Rover and dragged them to death through the streets. Many Comorans speculated that Soilih had flipped out and gone psychodogmatic after a fortuneteller warned that he would be overthrown by a man with a mutt. On the other hand, the stocky dictator may have dreamed up the idea while smoking hashish, an activity that seemed to take up much of his time.

Soilih, in fact, was apparently still under the influence of hash one night last May when 30 white mercenaries tiptoed onto a beach near the capital city of Moroni. They were led by French-born Colonel Robert Denard, 50, a notorious soldier of fortune who has left his bloody footprints in countless African battles in the past 23 years. As foretold, Denard was accompanied by a German shepherd dog. Within a few hours, Denard and his gang had shot up Soilih's bodyguard, put the dictator under arrest and accepted the surrender of the Comoran army, a ragtag force of 200 men who had not fired a shot. The coup touched off a week of celebration that grew still more frenzied with the announcement that Soilih had died while "trying to escape."

Denard had been hired by two wealthy Comorans, Ahmed Abdallah, a former head of state, and Businessman Mohammed Ahmed*; they may have gotten an okay for the invasion from French intelligence. They set themselves up as "co-presidents" and obligingly declared that Denard and his men were merely visiting "technicians." But the technicians had ideas of their own. Efficient mercenary "advisers" were assigned to the army, police, post office and telephone company and in every instance took firm, though unofficial, command.

"This is much preferable to being in a national military organization and being closed in," said Denard last week, happily surveying his new domain. "A man," he mused philosophically, "reaches a point in his life when it is time to settle down. This place has good food and pretty women. What more can you ask for?" Denard has taken a Comoran wife, converted to Islam and adopted the name Moustapha Mouhadjou. When he drives around in his brown and white Ford command car, Denard is hailed by cheering crowds as "No. 1 President." He returns the cheers with an exaggerated, army-style salute.

Such adulation is a far cry from the hostility the "dogs of war" usually receive in black Africa. White mercenaries are among the most hated men on the continent. Many of the most famous have gone into retirement. "African armies are much better now and can no longer be beaten by a few white soldiers," says Denard with a trace of nostalgia. "There was a time when our services were really needed, but that time is passing now. I think I am the only person left who could have mounted an operation like this."

But even in the Comoros, time may be running out for the white adventurers. Denard's prominence has made the Comorans outcasts in black Africa. When Comoran diplomats showed up at the recent summit meeting of the Organization for African Unity, they were branded the "Denard delegation" and unceremoniously thrown out. Western nations that would like to help the Comoros are reluctant to extend aid to a nation dominated by a pack of hired guns. Says a Comoran official: "Our biggest problem now is how to get the mercenaries out and re-establish relations with the rest of Africa."

That will take some doing, as Denard has shown no signs of quitting his island stronghold. Each night, fire trucks and service vehicles are drawn up on the airstrip at Moroni airport to keep unwelcome visitors--including a commando force that Uganda's Idi Amin has threatened to launch--from dropping in. "If the people ask us to leave," says Denard, "we'll be gone the next morning. If they don't ask us to leave, it will take 100,000 Cubans to throw us out." It appears that the old mercenary has found a home--until the next man with a dog comes along.

*According to rumor, Ahmed took out a mortgage on his Paris apartment to finance the operation.

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