Moroni, May 03: The emir of gas-rich Qatar has donated 20 million euros to the Comoros to pay off salary arrears owed to civil servants, the president of the island nation said.
“I can confirm … that the money has been paid in to the Comoros central bank,” President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi said Sunday during a speech, adding that wages would be handed out to civil servants Monday and Tuesday.
The emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, visited the Comoros on April 22 and promised to pay off nine months of salary arrears for civil servants.
It was the first official visit by an Arab head of state to the poor Indian Ocean archipelago, a politically tense Muslim state which has been rocked by more than 20 coups since independence from France in 1975.
A delegation from Qatar led by the son of the emir arrived last week to hand over the money
—Agencies