Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will lead an African Union (AU) delegation on a two-day visit to the Comores in an effort to help the island with its constitutional crisis, the Foreign Affairs Department said yesterday.

The Comores was excluded from participating in AU (or previously OAU) meetings and business in July 2000, in accordance with the Lome Declaration that prohibits unconstitutional transfers of power, department spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said.

He said the AU charged South Africa, Magadascar, Mauritius, Tanzania and Mozambique under the leadership of Dlamini-Zuma with assisting the Comorean people in finding a resolution to their constitutional crisis.

Free and fair elections for the president of the Union of Comores and the presidents of the autonomous islands took place under international supervision in March and April 2002.

However, there were still outstanding obstacles towards the holding of parliamentary elections, which included the division of power, the budget, customs, tax revenue and security, he said.

Dlamini-Zuma and her delegation leave for the island this morning and return tomorrow.

The team are scheduled to hold discussions with the president of the Union of Comores, Colonel Azali Assoumani, the presidents of the Autonomous Islands, Colonel Mohamed Bacar, Mze Abdou Soule El Bak and Mohamed Fazul as well as the Comorean Electoral Commission. – Sapa.