Ali Soilih

More than 10 years later, in 1989, Soilih's older half-brother, Said Mohamed Djohar, overthrew Abdallah, possibly with the help of Denard. He served as president of Comoros until 1996.

On May 13, 1978, Soilih was finally overthrown by a force of 50 mercenaries, largely former French paratroopers hired by exiled former leader Ahmed Abdallah and led by French Colonel Bob Denard. The Moissy were worthless as soldiers and the French mercenaries almost effortlessly annihilated the Moissy in a few hours of fighting as the untrained and undisciplined rabble of the Moissy, who had never seen action before, were no match for the well-trained and experienced French mercenaries, most of whom were veterans of the elite Parachute units. In a few hours of fighting, the French killed hundreds of the Moissy without losing a single man in return. On the night of the coup, Soilih was discovered by Denard, who had kicked in the door to his bedroom, naked in his bed with three nude teenage schoolgirls, all of them high on marijuana watching a pornographic film. Denard recalled that Soilih was so stupid and high that he had to repeat several times his message that he was no longer president before Soilih finally realized he was now deposed. Abdallah became president, Soilih's policies were reversed, and the name of the country was changed to "Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros". On May 29, Soilih was shot and killed; according to the government, he had attempted to escape from house arrest.

Ali Soilih M'Tsashiwa (Arabic: علي صويلح; January 7, 1937 – May 29, 1978) was a Comorian socialist revolutionary and political figure who served as the 3rd President of the Comoros from 3 January 1976 to 13 May 1978.

On August 3, 1975, less than a month after Comoros gained independence from France, Soilih overthrew President Said Mohamed Jaffar and became head of a revolutionary council that took over Comoros. Soilih, whose adherents were barely armed, hired French mercenary Bob Denard to overthrow Ahmed Abdallah. He officially became President of the revolutionary council in January 1976. He acquired extensive powers under the terms of a new constitution and implemented socialist economic policies. In 1977 he held a referendum on his presidency, with 56.63% of voters endorsing it.

In 1970, Ali Soilih entered politics as a supporter of Said Ibrahim, leader of the Democratic Assembly of the Comoran People, Rassemblement démocratique du Peuple Comorien (RDPC). He soon developed an ideology of hostility towards France as the former colonial power. His ideas were socialist, and he renounced his Islamic faith and became an atheist.

Soilih was born in Majunga, Madagascar. He spent much of his early life there, and was educated in Madagascar and France. During the early 1960s, he traveled to Comoros, where he worked in agriculture and economic development.