Paris - The Comoros president on Saturday called for calm in the aftermath of a plane crash that killed 152 people, as Yemenia cancelled all flights to the islands and thousands rallied in France.
President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi in a statement urged the Comoran community in France to show "calm and serenity at a time of contemplation and mourning to secure national and international solidarity."
Yemenia announced on Saturday it had suspended all flights to the Comoros following Tuesday's crash of an Airbus A310 near the islands' capital Moroni in which all but one of its 153 passengers and crew perished.
Meanwhile, at least 10 000 people - some wearing black armbands and carrying banners reading "Never again" and "Life is priceless" - marched in memory of the victims in the southern French city of Marseille, home to a large expatriate community.
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Organisers put the number taking part at around 40 000.
The disaster has sparked protests among the Comoran community in France over the condition of the 19-year-old Airbus that Yemenia used on its Moroni service.
Yemenia said all flights had been suspended indefinitely.
"In light of serious incidents in recent days and major risks that some passengers posed to airport staff, our company and passengers, Yemenia has decided to no longer serve Moroni for an indefinite period from July 3 until the situation eases," it said in a statement.
Yemenia's lawyer in France, Laurent-Franck Lienard, told AFP that only flights to Moroni were affected, and that the airline would continue to fly to other destinations - including Paris-Sanaa, Paris-Kuala Lumpur and Paris-Jakarta - as normal.
Since the crash, survived only by a 12-year-old girl now recovering in a Paris hospital, members of the Comoran community have blocked check-in desks in Paris and Marseille for Yemenia flights to Moroni, prompting the airline on Thursday to suspend services from Marseille.
The Comoran ambassador to France, Abdallah Mirghane, and his wife on Friday visited the girl in hospital, the statement issued by the Comoros embassy in Paris added.
In a separate development Saturday, Frence Prime Minister Francois Fillon tasked a former French ambassador to Sudan, Christine Robichon, to help the families of those killed in the crash.
In a statement, he said Robichon would act as a go-between between the families and relevant agencies, and also oversee "good cooperation" between Comorans, Yemeni officials and Yemenia airlines.
In its statement, Yemenia said it "shares the pain of families who lost loved ones in this tragic accident" as it strives to pass along information and swiftly pay out "provisional compensation."
But it lamented what it called "irrational" demonstrations and "unacceptable violence" that were compromising the airline's ability to deal with the disaster.
"These displays of violence and serious threats are aimed at preventing the airline from continuing its service to the Comoros," it said.
"They risk leading to a new tragedy, on the ground or in the air, which Yemenia has a duty to prevent."
To passengers holding tickets for suspended flights, Yemenia "pledges that all tickets for flights to Moroni will be refunded in full". - Sapa-AFP
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