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Viewing cable 07ANTANANARIVO396, Comoros Protests French Country Code Change In Mayotte

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07ANTANANARIVO396 2007-04-24 11:29 2011-08-24 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Antananarivo
VZCZCXYZ0025
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAN #0396 1141129
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 241129Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY ANTANANARIVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4677
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0874
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0065
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0062
UNCLAS ANTANANARIVO 000396 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/E AND AF/FO 
GENEVA FOR ITU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL ECON ECPS ITU FR MF CN
SUBJECT:  Comoros Protests French Country Code Change In Mayotte 
 
1. (U) Comoran Ambassador to Paris Soulaimana Mohamed Ahmed will 
reportedly travel to Geneva as soon as possible to submit an 
official protest to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) 
after France unilaterally changed the telephone country code for its 
territory Mayotte from 269 (like the rest of the Comoran 
archipelago) to 262 (like the other French holding in the region, 
Reunion).  President Sambi publicly protested the country code 
change, calling it a violation of international law and an insult to 
Comorans, who still claim Mayotte. 
 
2. (SBU) The Union of the Comoros maintains a claim on Mayotte 
despite the fact that France has administered the territory since 
independence in 1975.  They claim that the plebiscite for or against 
independence was intended to be all-or-nothing and, when only 
Mayotte voted against, the French changed the terms to make it 
island-by-island.  In any case, the Comoran flag includes four 
colored stripes, one for each of the four islands with Mayotte's 
"temporarily" white to signify it is not yet in the independent 
Union.  While in practical terms the Comoros cannot enforce its 
claim on Mayotte, political leaders and public opinion are unanimous 
in their distrust of France and the symbolic importance of retaining 
their claim on Mayotte. 
 
3. (SBU) COMMENT:  Hundreds of Comorans illegally immigrate to 
Mayotte every year seeking economic opportunities and better health 
care; dozens die in the attempt to cross the sea.  While the 
Comoros' moribund economy is among the poorest in the world, heavily 
subsidized Mayotte is like a lower-middle class French suburb.  That 
the Union of the Comoros and Mayotte have followed such divergent 
paths in the last 30 years is painfully obvious to Comorans.  Many 
common Comorans secretly curse their ancestors for voting for 
independence, wondering how much better off they might be had they 
remained a French territory like Mayotte.  The country code issue, 
while mundane and perhaps technically appropriate to the French, 
raises all of these deep-seated feelings for the Comorans.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
MCGEE