Azali Assoumani

Azali Assoumani
President of the Comoros
In office 26 May 2002 – 26 May 2006
President	Mamadou Tandja
Preceded by	Hamada Madi (Acting)
Succeeded by	Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi
In office 30 April 1999 – 21 January 2002
President	Mahamane Ousmane
Preceded by	Tadjidine Ben Said Massounde (Acting)
Succeeded by	Hamada Madi (Acting)
Personal details
Born	1 January 1959 Mitsoudjé, Comoros
Political party	Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros
Signature

Azali Assoumani (Arabic: غزالي عثماني‎, born January 1, 1959) was President of the Comoros from 1999 to 2002 and again from 2002 to 2006. He became leader of the country on 30 April 1999 after leading a coup to depose acting president Tadjidine Ben Said Massounde, who he saw as pandering to the independence movement on Anjouan. He won multi-party elections in 2002, prior to which he was constitutionally required to temporarily step down in order to run as a candidate.

Life and career

Azali was born in 1959 at Mitsoudjé in south-western Grande Comore. Until he overthrew the civilian government in 1999, he pursued a military career for two decades. Between 1977 and 1980 he trained at the Royal Military Academy in Morocco and qualified as a parachutist. On his return to Comoros, he joined the FAC. After the death of Abdullah and the departure of the mercenaries in 1989-1990, Major Azali became a senior officer in the new Comorian Defense Force (FCD). In 1996 he undertook further training at a French military academy and was promoted to colonel and chief of staff of the new National Army of Development (NAD).

Constitutionally, the presidency is supposed to rotate every four years between the country's three islands, Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli. ^[1]

References

1. IRIN Africa | Global | United Nations | GLOBAL: USAID reviewing food aid as costs soar | Early Warning Economy Food Security Health & Nutrition | News Item Archived April 13, 2005, at the Wayback Machine.