Nov 18, 2009

MORONI (Reuters) - Comoran authorities arrested a prominent opposition leader on Tuesday, less than a month ahead of legislative elections on the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Said Larifou, head of the Rally for a Development Initiative with an Enlightened Youth (RIDJA) is accused of calling President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi an infidel at a campaign rally on Sunday on the largest of the three islands, Grand Comore.

The opposition said his detention was a political arrest.

"Larifou is still in the hands of the police. He is accused of declaring that President Sambi is an infidel during an opposition meeting," Houmed Msaidie, secretary general of the leading opposition CRC party, told Reuters.

"He is also accused of stating that Sambi would leave power at the end of his mandate either by a legal path or by force," he said.

The Comoros, a former French colony which has witnessed some 20 coups or attempted coups since declaring independence in 1975, will hold legislative elections on December 6.

Msaidie said the opposition had written to the international community, describing Larifou's arrest as intimidation.

Comorans voted in May to extend Sambi's mandate by a year but the opposition said at the time that the low turnout was an indictment on his leadership.