MORONI, Comoros: A man who attacked Comoros President Azali Assoumani with a knife and injured him slightly has been found dead in prison, the national prosecutor said Saturday, a day after the incident.
“He was isolated in a cell so that he could calm down yesterday after his arrest. Investigators found his lifeless body lying on the floor this morning. A doctor declared him dead,” Ali Mohamed Djounaid told a press conference.
“An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of his death,” he added.
Government spokeswoman Fatima Ahamada said Saturday that 65-year-old Assoumani was at home with his family and “doing very well.”
The attack took place during a funeral for a well-known religious leader.
The knife injured the president’s hand, but the attacker was stopped by another mourner, witnesses said.
Assoumani was reelected as president of Comoros in January in a vote denounced by opposition parties as fraudulent. At least one person died in unrest following the election. Assoumani, 65, is a former military leader who first came to power in Comoros in a coup in 1999.
The country, which is made up of an archipelago of islands off the east coast of Africa, has experienced more than a dozen coups or attempted coups since its independence from France in 1975.