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On March 8, 1985, one of the most serious attempts to overthrow the Abdallah
government began as a mutiny by about thirty Comoran troops of the GP [Presidential
Guard (Garde Presidentielle--GP)] against their European officers. The
disaffected guards had formed ties to the Democratic Front (Front Démocratique--FD),
one of the more nationalistic of the republic's many banned political parties.
The mutiny was quickly squelched; three of the rebellious guards were killed,
and the rest were taken prisoners.
President Abdallah used the uprising as an opportunity to round up
dissidents, primarily FD members, whose leadership denied involvement in the
coup attempt. Later in 1985, seventyseven received convictions; seventeen,
including the FD's secretary general, Mustapha Said Cheikh, were sentenced to
life imprisonment at hard labor. Most of the prisoners were released in 1986
following Amnesty International charges of illegal arrests, torture, and other
abuses. France had also exerted pressure by temporarily withholding new aid
projects and purchases of Comoran vanilla.
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