PRETORIA, March 18, 2008 (AFP) - South Africa's foreign minister called Tuesday for 11th-hour talks in Comoros as African Union troops prepared to support federal forces in a bid to take control of the rebel island of Anjouan.

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was speaking as Comoran government troops and AU-mandated contingents from Senegal, Sudan and Tanzania prepared to take back control of Anjouan island from the renegade leader Mohamed Bacar.

'The Anjouan authorities want discussion first on matters of governance and interpretation of the constitution,' said Dlamini-Zuma. 'The federal government first wants the disputed elections dissolved.

'We believe that there is still the possibility of solving this dispute diplomatically,' said Dlamini-Zuma, who played a pivotal role in mediating a power-sharing Comoros constitution.

Anjouan is one of the three islands in the Indian Ocean Comoran federation.

Bacar held elections there in June 2007 that were deemed illegal by the AU and the Comoros federation, but he has defied appeals to step down.

The military intervention against him is also backed by the United States and former colonial power France.

The federal Comoros authorities have promised fresh elections in May on the rebel isle.

The fractious Indian Ocean archipelago has survived 19 coups or coup attempts since it acquired independence from France in 1975.