The Comoros covers three small volcanic islands, Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli, in the Mozambique channel, 300 km (190 miles) northwest of Madagascar and a similar distance east of the African mainland.
(Additional reporting by Mohamed Sudam in Sanaa, Richard Lough in Antananarivo, Inal Ersan in Dubai, David Clarke in Nairobi, Pascal Lietout and Anna Willard in Paris; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne and David Clarke; Editing by Louise Ireland and Jon Hemming)