Comoros President Azali Assoumani on Thursday chaired a cupboard assembly in his first public look since being wounded in a knife assault final week, authorities footage confirmed.
Assoumani is seen within the video with a thick bandage on the left facet of his brow, smiling as he acquired right into a automobile and arriving on the presidential compound.
He greeted advisors and ministers earlier than sitting on the finish of the cupboard desk the place he appeared via recordsdata.
AFP correspondents noticed the president’s motorcade enter the presidential compound, however reporters weren’t allowed in.
The 65-year-old president had not been seen since September 13 when he was wounded by a soldier throughout the funeral of a non secular chief in Salimani-Itsandra on the outskirts of the capital Moroni.
The federal government stated his wounds had been “not critical” and that he was superb.
However his uncommon absence from the Mawlid non secular celebrations in Moroni, an essential occasion within the small Indian Ocean archipelago of round 870,000 individuals who principally practise Islam, raised questions.
One in every of Assoumani’s advisors and a diplomat informed AFP, on situation of anonymity, that the Comoros chief had cancelled his attendance on the UN Normal Meeting, because of start in New York on September 22 — an occasion he not often misses.
The president “has regained his full kind, as proof he chaired the council of ministers”, authorities spokesperson Fatima Ahamada informed reporters exterior the presidential palace on Thursday after the assembly.
It was “on the advice of his physician” that he had not taken half within the Mawlid festivities, she added.
“I can guarantee you that he’s doing very properly bodily and mentally. It’s the bandage on his head that’s bothering him… aesthetically,” Msaidie Houmed, Assoumani’s political adviser, had informed AFP on Wednesday when requested concerning the causes for his absence.
“It’s the identical Azali we had earlier than” the assault, he stated.
The federal government beforehand declined to element the president’s accidents, saying solely that he had wanted “stitches to his scalp”.
A witness to the assault, who declined to offer his identify, informed AFP: “The assailant was like a madman, he threw himself on the head of state”, who was on a terrace within the residence of the deceased non secular chief.
“He first attacked him with a knife earlier than beating him up,” he stated.
“With out the one who intervened, I strongly consider that the pinnacle of state wouldn’t have escaped.”
– No post-mortem –
On the day after the assault Public Prosecutor Ali Mohamed Djounaid introduced that the 24-year-old soldier, who had been instantly arrested, was discovered useless in jail that morning in unclear circumstances.
Investigations have been opened into the president’s assault and the person’s explanation for demise, the prosecutor stated.
He stated the physique had been instantly handed over to the household, suggesting that no post-mortem was requested by the general public prosecutor’s workplace.
The federal government spokesperson refused to touch upon the circumstances across the assailant’s demise.
However “his demise undermines the investigation” into the assault in opposition to the president, which should “decide whether or not (this) shouldn’t be the results of a conspiracy”, Ahamada stated.
Assoumani, a former navy ruler who got here to energy in a coup in 1999, was re-elected president in January after a disputed vote that was adopted by two days of lethal protests.
He has been accused of rising authoritarianism.
In August, he granted new powers to his son, in a transfer that critics stated was a step in the direction of consolidating the household’s rule over the small African island nation.
Nour El Fath Azali, who’s Assoumani’s eldest son, was appointed secretary common of Comoros in July.
The brand new powers imply he should approve all decrees issued by ministers and governors.
Critics say that it elevates his position to that of de facto prime minister.
AFP
