MUTSAMUDU, Comoros (AP) - Military troops overthrew the government and seized power in a bloodless coup Thursday on Anjouan, an island that has declared independence from the Comoros chain in the Indian Ocean, officials said.(Read photo caption below)

``The coup occurred late in the morning when soldiers took over the national radio, the airport, the posts headquarters and arrested the president,'' said Abubakar Mohamed, director of finance in the secessionist administration. He said it was triggered by grievances over military promotions and pay.

Hours after toppling the government of Lt. Col. Said Abeid Abderemanein, the military junta was grappling with the choice of a new president for the island, whose main export is the ylang-ylang flower, used to make perfume.

``According to information we have, the military junta is trying to install a civilian president and is now working on the issue,'' said Mtetezi Mohamed, a journalist on Anjouan. He said the ousted leader was detained at police headquarters.

Life in the secessionist island's capital, Mutsamudu, was relatively normal, with soldiers patrolling the streets, residents reached by telephone said. Anjouanese radio replaced regular broadcasts with martial and festive music, said one resident Alawy Mohamed.

Comorian authorities who control the rest of the archipelago held a crisis meeting late Thursday, concerned over possible spillover effects in a nation that has experienced 19 coups and attempted coups since independence from France in 1975.

The Comorian government, based in the capital Moroni, was also assessing the impact the coup would have on efforts to bring the secessionist island back into the federal Islamic republic, officials said on condition of anonymity.

In August 1997, Anjouan unilaterally declared independence from the Comoros - three small islands between the African coast and Madagascar, with a population of 578,000 - complaining that it was not receiving its fair share of export revenues, mainly from the sale of ylang-ylang flowers.
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PHOTO CAPTION:
There have been 19 coups in 25 years of independence in the Comoros. (BBC)