Sheikh Abdullah Mahmoud Ibrahim, representative of Sayed Ahmad Abdullah Sambi, former President of the Comoros, met with the Secretary-General of the the Ahl al-Bayt (a.s.) World Assembly in Qom.
In this meeting, Ayatollah Reza Ramazani stated, “I am very glad to see you. Send my greetings to Mr. Sayed Ahmad Sambi. Tell him that I am praying for him, and I hope he will be released from prison as soon as possible so that he can take better care of Muslims and Shiites.”
“Our friends in the assembly are following his condition. Sayed Ahmad’s activities and efforts were very important at certain times. At the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, we are and will continue to be defenders of the rights of Shiites and followers of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) around the world, especially in African countries,” he continued.
In this meeting, Sheikh Mahmoud Ibrahim said, “I carry the message of Sayed Ahmad Sambi from the Comoros Island. He is still in prison, and we are in contact with him.”
“The Comoros population is about 480,000, 30% of whom live in cities. The general composition of the country’s population is of African descent. But there are also two immigrant groups: the first group are immigrants from the east coast of Africa, Madagascar, Iran, Arabs, and Indians, and the second group are Europeans, including the Portuguese, Dutch, and French. The official language of the country is Arabic, but Swahili and French are also spoken,” he said about Comoros.
“99% of the Comorians are Muslim and there is a Christian minority in the country. Sayed Ahmad Sambi loves Iran and always praises its people and leaders. He has good memories of Iran and loves the AhlulBayt (a.s.). He says Iran is an important country. I work in the field of (Islamic) propagation and now my daughter is studying religious teachings in Iran,” he added.
It is worth noting that the Federal Republic of Comoros is an archipelago off Africa’s east coast in the Indian Ocean waters. The country is located east of Mozambique waters and northwest of Madagascar waters. The Comoros has an area of 2236 square kilometers. The name Comoros is derived from the Arabic word “Al-Qamar” (القمر) meaning “moon”. A member of the Arab League, the Comoros is made up of seven federally administered regions, and its capital Moroni, is located on the island of Grand Comoros.
Former Comoros President Hojatoleslam Ahmed Abdullah al-Sambi unexpectedly won the April 2005 Comoros presidential election with 58% of the vote, defeating two of his rivals.
The Comoros government, led by Osman al-Ghazali, later arrested former President Ahmed Abdullah Sambi. The hostile move came after Sambi returned to Moroni, the capital of the Comoros, from Paris. Opposition groups and national figures, meanwhile, have expressed grave concern about the health condition of their former president in prison.
Sayed Ahmad Abdullah Sambi, a supporter of the Resistance and the Palestinian Cause, returned to his country on May 12, 2018, after months of absence, when he was greeted with an unparalleled welcome by his friends and supporters. His purpose in returning was to prevent a “constitutional referendum to extend the presidential term permanently” proposed by then-President Osman al-Ghazali to suspend the Constitutional Court, and leave it to the Supreme Court, which is headed by President Ghazali himself.
The return of Ahmed Abdullah Sambi to the Comoros is one of the main reasons that disappointed Ghazali to continue in power, prompting him to issue a house arrest order a week after the former president arrived in the country, and wanted to ban Mr. Sambi from communicating with the outside world.