SAINT DENIS, Reunion, March 27, 2008 (AFP) - A French military transport airplane carrying the ousted rebel leader of the Comoros island of Anjouan, Mohamed Bacar, was seen Friday landing on the French island of Reunion.

The C-160 Transall plane, also carrying 23 Anjouan soldiers, flew in from Mayotte, another French possession in the Indian Ocean, where Bacar asked for asylum after being driven off Anjouan by Comoroan and African Union troops.

French officials said Thursday that, upon his arrival in Reunion, Bacar would be placed under investigation for landing illegally on Mayotte in possession of weapons.