A man who attacked Comoros President, Azali Assoumani with a knife and slightly injured him was found dead in prison under unknown circumstances, the public prosecutor stated on Monday.
Prosecutor Ali Mohamed Djounaid identified the deceased as Ahmed Abdou, a 24-year-old soldier from the town of Salimani-Itsandra, where the funeral was held.
He used a “kitchen knife” to attack the president and a relative of the late religious leader before being detained and turned over to detectives, according to the prosecutor.
Mr. Abdou was isolated in a cell so that he could calm down after his arrest.
Investigators found his lifeless body lying on the floor and doctors declared him dead.
The attack on the president took place on Friday afternoon during a funeral for a well-known religious leader in a village near Moroni.
The government declined to detail the president’s injuries, saying only that he had needed “stitches to his scalp.”
Government spokeswoman Fatima Ahamada said Saturday that 65-year-old Assoumani was at home with his family and “doing very well.”
According to the Prosecutor, Djounaid stated that Abou was overpowered by the president’s security detail and brought over to investigators, who did “not have time to question him” before he died.
“An inquiry is underway into the reasons for the young man’s attempt on the president’s life.””There will also be an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death,” the prosecutor stated.
The young man’s body was handed over to his family and buried in accordance with Muslim practice.
