Hooded men cut island off from the world

A dozen hooded men, claiming to be FBI, have landed on the smallest island in the Comoros archipelago off Mozambique.

The men have cut telephone connections to the outside world.

International attention focused briefly on the Comoros after the August 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The bombings are thought to be masterminded by Osama bin Laden.

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, indicted by a US court for his alleged role in the Nairobi bombing in which 12 Americans were killed, is a Comorian.

He is a fugitive, and his name is on a list of 22 most wanted terrorists issued by President George Bush.

Assoumane's government has repeatedly denied reports of al-Qaida cells in Comoros.

A Comorian official said it was not yet clear who the men were or what they wanted.

"We have no idea what's going on," the official said from the president's office in Moroni, the capital. "We were told they were not armed and that they said they were from the FBI."

The official said a contingent of Comorian soldiers had arrived in Moheli and had not met any resistance. He said President Azali Assoumane's government was waiting for more information.