Alias Gilbert Bourgeaud, alias Said Mustapha Mahdjou, he was born on 7 April 1929, in Bordeaux. Bob Denard, alias Colonel Bob, is the mercenary's mercenary, involved in more than one murky coup in more than one turbulent country, writes Stephen Jessel. It was Mr Yachourtu who announced an amnesty for the 400 to 700 Comorians implicated in the coup - though not for the 30 or so mercenaries led by Denard - and the establishment of a broad-based government of national unity to be formed after consultations with all parties, including those in opposition.French officials said the aims of the intervention had been to remove the mercenaries, described as criminals, and to restore constitutional order.The officials declined to say whether a restoration of constitutional order implied the restoration of Mr Djohar, who has only limited support among the 450,000, chiefly Muslim, inhabitants of the Comoros, preferring to emphasise their support for the new national-unity government.. The outcome of the coup - the removal from power of President Djohar - does not appear to distress Paris.A statement from the Quai d'Orsay said that the military intervention followed a request by the Comorian Prime Minister, Caambi el Yachourtu, who sought asylum in the French embassy after the coup, invoking the defence agreement between the two countries signed in November 1978. They also attributed their about-face to the international outrage at the coup.The intervention seems to have taken place as soon as was practically possible after the coup.

France's decision to send troops to the Comoros - reversing an earlier declaration by the Prime Minister, Alain Juppe, that there would be no military intervention - was taken in the light of the damage the coup was doing to the future of the archipelago, French foreign-office officials said yesterday. It's a question of hours."At least three people died and 11 were injured in the French dawn assault that secured the airport, 12 miles north of Moroni, the capital, and gained the troops a foothold near the central harbour and embassy. "Colonel" Bob Denard, the 66-year-old mercenary, freed President Said Mohamed Djohar, whom he had been holding since launching the coup lastThursday, but was still negotiating his surrender last night.Interviewed by French television stations, Denard said he expected to give himself up today "I'm not going to resist," he said "I await nothing more, except to leave honourably. STEPHEN JESSEL Paris A six-day coup in the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Comoros ended yesterday with an invasion by hundreds of French troops and a stand-off with the French mercenary who led the uprising.The troops, chiefly from units stationed in French territories and bases in the region but also including units flown from mainland France, landed at dawn on the main island of the archipelago, seizing two airports and the immediate surrounds of the French embassy.The troops, which included Foreign Legion detachments from the French island of Mayotte, were supported by helicopters and warships.

The Federation Council, the upper chamber, approved a resolution calling for revision to the plan to boost social spending and subsidies for regions and industry."The draft 1996 budget continues the current policy of the Russian government, which has resulted in a drop in income for Russians in 1995 and increased social tension in several sectors and regions," the resolution read.The plan calls for cutting spending and boosting revenues in an effort to squeeze the deficit and bring down inflation.The government is forecasting an average monthly inflation rate of 1.2 per cent next year, down from 6 to 7 per cent forecast for 1995.. The Prime Minister went on to survive a parliamentary vote of no confidence in the government.Yesterday Mr Chernomyrdin's announcement was greeted with scepticism by some Russian political analysts who noted he had not expressly ruled out changing his mind. He has a reputation for being intensely ambitious; if Mr Yeltsin decides to drop out of the presidential race, the political landscape may seem far more inviting to the Prime Minister and his supporters.n On the eve of a key hearing in the State Duma, the government's draft budget for next year met heavy criticism in both houses of parliament yesterday. Nothing had come between himself and the President, he told Tass - and nothing would.Mr Chernomyrdin, 57, has been seen as the front-runner for the Kremlin's top job for several years, even though his current chances of success are questionable, given the level of disaffection with the government among the electorate.He heads the pro-Yeltsin centre-right electoral bloc Our Home is Russia, which has yet to attract much popular support; even Mr Yeltsin - who instigated the creation of the bloc - had conceded that it could fare badly in the elections for the State Duma (lower house) this December.Although he is often widely portrayed as a colourless technocrat - he is a former head of the national gas monopoly - Mr Chernomyrdin's stock improved dramatically in June when he leapt into the international limelight by conducting televised telephone negotiations with Chechen rebels holding hundreds of Russians hostage in Budennovsk.Mr Yeltsin was at an economic summit in Canada.

"I have not planned, and am not planning, to present my own candidacy for the election of presidency next year," Mr Chernomyrdin told Itar-Tass news agency.He went out of his way to scotch reports that his relations with Mr Yeltsin had soured and that he may be destined for the chop. In the past five years Poland has certainly made giant leaps towards building a democratic, free- market society and has edged closer to the European Union and Nato. Mr Walesa's critics charge that this has happened despite rather than because of the President But he is undeterred. He declared yesterday: "I have always removed every obstacle to reform and I will continue to remove all obstacles to reform.". PHIL REEVES Moscow Russia's Prime Minister, Viktor Chernomyrdin, yesterday delivered a fresh surprise to Moscow's army of Kremlin-watchers by announcing he had no plans to run for president in the new year's elections.If he stands by his word, there will be disappointment in the West, where he has long been seen as one of the more acceptable successors to the ailing and sometimes erratic Boris Yeltsin. With the current government dominated by the SLD, he is presenting himself as the only man who could act as an effective brake on its powers.He is also seeking to campaign on his record.