France Releases Comoros Rebel, to Stay on Island

Bacar and a group of his soldiers first fled to the French island of Mayotte, but his presence there provoked riots and he was transferred.

A French court ordered on Friday the release from jail of Comorian rebel leader Mohamed Bacar but he remained under house arrest on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion.

French authorities are processing Bacar's request for political asylum in France but Comoros wants him to be extradited so that its courts can try him.

Bacar fled the Indian Ocean island of Anjouan last month when Comorian and African Union troops toppled his renegade government. He had faced charges of illegally entering French territory and importing weapons, but they were withdrawn on technical grounds.

Bacar and a group of his soldiers first fled to the French island of Mayotte, but his presence there provoked riots and he was transferred to the larger island of Reunion, immediately placed in police detention and then remanded in custody.

The court also ordered the release of 21 members of his close guard who were locked up with him after Comoros said it wanted them to face trial on its soil. They had previously been placed under house arrest at a Reunion military base.

"They will be removed from their prison in the coming hours and will return to the air force base", Bacar's lawyer Marie Briot said after the ruling, adding that she did not expect a decision on his asylum application for another two weeks.