Ethno-Net Database: Africa

Reports on Ethnic Relations / Rapports sur les relations éthniques

The following section is mainly consisted of part, full or summaries of articles taken from newspapers.
La section suivante est essentiellement constituée d'exraits, de la totalité ou de résumés d'articles issues de journaux .

Thousands of people, estimated at 50,000, staged a demonstration on Friday in the streets of the Central African Republic (CAR) capital, Bangui, in support of Francois Bozize, the new CAR leader who took power in a coup on 15 March.

The demonstration was organised by the Concertation des partis politiques d'opposition (CPPO), a 12-party alliance that has declared its support for Bozize.

The mostly youthful placard-carrying demonstrators, from the eight districts of Bangui, converged at city centre in the morning to begin the demonstration. On the way to the city centre, about 3,000 marchers from the third district stopped in front of the Nigerian embassy, where they sang the national anthem.

Leaders of the Mouvement de liberation du peuple centrafricain (MLPC) of the now-ousted President Ange-Felix Patasse - among them former ministers, members of parliament and their families -have sought refuge at the Nigerian embassy since the coup.

The chairman of the CPPO, Abel Goumba, who was recently appointed prime minister to head the transitional government, addressed the demonstrators before they left the city centre for Barthelemy Boganda Stadium. He said, "What happened on 15 March was not a military coup ... but a patriotic jump, a revolution of the people."

During the demonstration, the marches chanted: "Patasse assassin, Bozize liberator". At the Barthelemy Boganda Stadium, representatives of political parties, the youth, women and religious communities addressed the crowd, and thanked Bozize for his "salutary" action.

Bozize, who made a surprise appearance at the stadium, spoke in Sangho, the local language, and thanked the demonstrators for their support. He urged them to resume work.

The MLPC was the only political party that did not take part in Friday's demonstration. It has denounced what it terms "the lack of consensus" in Goumba's appointment as prime minister.

"The MLPC executive board realises that through that non-consensual appointment, the president of the republic has forced the MLPC into the opposition. That opposition will be a responsible one," the party's executive board said in a memorandum issued on 24 March and signed by the party's first vice-chairman, Hugues Dobozendi.

Meanwhile, Jeune Afrique L'Intelligent, a privately owned Paris weekly magazine, reported that Patasse, who has been in the Togolese capital, Lome, since 20 March, had said he would soon form the "Front de liberation du peuple centrafricain" to remove Bozize from power.

03 / 27 / 2003

The 31-member Equatorial Guinea contingent of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States (CEMAC) peacekeeping force left the Central African Republic (CAR) on Wednesday.

The spokesman for the CEMAC force, Col Augustin Bibaye, told IRIN on Thursday that the contingent would not be replaced.

"Given the current situation [in the CAR], we think that there is no risk of destabilisation of the country," Fernando Vengou, the Equatorial Guinea government spokesman, said on Thursday on Africa No.1, a privately owned Gabonese broadcaster.

Vengou said the CAR administration of Francois Bozize, a former army chief of staff who took power in a coup on 15 March, had not officially asked for the contingent to remain in the CAR capital, Bangui.

At the same time, 61 of 126 Republic of Congo (ROC) CEMAC troops left for Brazzaville on Tuesday. However, Bibaye told IRIN that other soldiers from the ROC would replace them “very soon”.

Bibaye said that all the troop-contributing countries to the peacekeeping force were expected to rotate their contingents by 10 April. Gabon has also contributed 146 soldiers to the force. Mali and Cameroon have yet to send theirs.

On 19 March, Chad sent 300 soldiers to Bangui to help restore calm following Bozize's coup. The integration of the Chadian troops into CEMAC will be decided at the community’s next regional summit, whose date is yet to be fixed. The last summit in Brazzaville on 21 March decided to keep the CEMAC force in the CAR, and to revise its mandate and reinforce its capacities.

The force's initial mission was to protect the now-ousted President Ange-Felix Patasse, to monitor the securing of the CAR-Chad border and to restructure the CAR army.

Eight labour union confederations in the Central African Republic have offered their full support to the country’s new leader, Francois Bozize, who seized power on 15 March from President Ange-Felix Patasse, whom the unionists accused of neglecting their social demands.

"Today we reaffirm solemnly that we are going to offer the support necessary so that your noble mission cannot fail," Sandoz Oualanga, chairman of the Centrale nationale des travailleurs centrafricain, told Bozize during a meeting on Tuesday. Oualanga said that a peaceful demonstration would be organised soon to show that support.

A similar march organised by the Concertation des parties politiques d'opposition of Prime Minister Abel Goumba is scheduled to take place on Friday, in Bangui, the capital.

Civil servants have not been paid for some 30 months. Many union confederations, such as the teachers or the medical personnel unions, have repeatedly called indefinite strikes to press their demands for pay. A representative of the Union syndicale des travailleurs centrafricain told Bozize during the meeting that the union would continue to present its demands.

Bozize told the unionists that he recognised there were major difficulties, including the salary issue. In his first speech to the nation in Sangho, the local language, Bozize said on 16 March that he was not a "miracle maker". But he promised the unionists to do his best to solve the problem and urged union leaders to call their members back to work.

Some 284 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), camped on the grounds of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangui are demanding that they be repatriated, the agency’s representative in the Central African Republic (CAR) told IRIN on Tuesday.

The official, Emile Segbor, said the refugees feared reprisal attacks by CAR nationals. He said the refugees had told the agency’s officials that since former CAR army chief of staff Francois Bozize seized power on 15 March, CAR nationals had expressed "anti-Congolese feelings", allegedly over human rights excesses perpetrated by fighters of the Jean Pierre Bemba’s Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC). The MLC had supported the now-ousted president, Ange-Felix Patasse, since October 2002 following a failed coup attempt by Bozize.

Some 1,500 Congolese refugees were repatriated in November 2002 following reprisal attacks against them.

Segbor said on Tuesday that the UNHCR was offering to transfer those who opted to remain in the country to a refugee camp at Molange, 140 km south of Bangui, where there are another 3,000 DRC refugees.

The Congolese refugees, majority of whom are men, have been receiving food from the UN World Food Programme (WFP). Segbor said most were men because they were the most targeted in reprisal attacks.

The representative of Cooperazione Internationale COOPI), Massimiliano Pedretti, told IRIN on Friday that it distributed soya-maize-corn blended pudding to 284 people - mostly women and children. He said COOPI, with the WFP, planned to help the refugees for seven days before seeking another solution.

Apart from pudding "they will have two meals a day composed of maize, beans, vegetable oil and salt", Albert Bango Makoudou, the WFP senior programme officer, told IRIN on Friday. He said WFP had provided three to four metric tons of food for the operation.

With 10,000 people, the DRC forms the second largest refugee community in the CAR after Sudan’s 35,000.

Meanwhile, no CAR refugee in the DRC and the Republic of Congo has registered with the UNHCR for repatriation, Segbor said. The agency had reported on 18 March that CAR refugees in the DRC and the ROC had urged it to repatriate them so that they could take part in the new administration in Bangui.

After a failed coup attempt by former President Andre Kolingba in May 2001, many CAR nationals from his ethnic group, the Yakoma, fled to the DRC and the ROC. Segbor said 3,000 CAR refugees were at Zongo in the DRC, across the Oubangui River’; about 500 at Bokilio, 150 km east of Zongo; and 3,000 to 4,000 in Betou, in northern ROC.

He also said none of the 20,000 refugees who fled to Chad following the fighting between the government forces and rebels from October 2002 to March 2003 had expressed their desire to be repatriated following Bozize’s victory. Most are in the southern Chadian villages of Gore, Sido and Sahr.

"Perhaps they want to take their time and weigh the situation first, or it is because they were traumatised by the recent events which are still fresh in their minds," Segbor said.

The former president of the Central African Republic (CAR), Andre Kolingba, is ready to go home from exile in Uganda, an official of his political party said on Monday.

The vice-chairman of Kolingba's Rassemblement democratique centrafricain (RDC), Louis Pierre Gamba, told IRIN that Kolingba wished to cooperate with the new administration of President Francois Bozize.

"He is determined to return home, but what still blocks him is the issue of amnesty," Gamba said.

Kolingba, president of the CAR from 1981 to 1993, fled to the Ugandan capital, Kampala, following his unsuccessful attempt to regain power through a coup on 28 May 2001.

Kolingba and his three sons were sentenced to death in absentia by CAR's criminal court in August 2002, in connection with the failed coup attempt against the then president, Ange-Felix Patasse. Six hundred other politicians, soldiers and businessmen, mostly members of Kolingba's Yakoma ethnic group, were also sentenced in connection with the attempt, with 21 of them receiving the death sentence. The RDC was suspended indefinitely, and many Yakomas fled to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Congo.

Gamba told IRIN that Bozize had been contacted about the issue, and had been given, at his request, Kolingba's telephone number.

In a communique issued on Wednesday, the RDC welcomed the change of power in the CAR and invited its members to place themselves at the new president's disposal. "He [Kolingba] has asked us to support Bozize," Gamba said.

Meanwhile, a former prime minister and chairman of the Parti pour l'unite nationale, Jean-Paul Ngoupande, announced on Monday on the Gabonese private broadcaster, Africa No.1 Radio, that he would return to the CAR from Paris, France, on Saturday.

IRIN

L'article: "Les troupes tchadiennes récupèrent 1 300 armes à feu à Bangui"

Les cent soldats tchadiens déployés mercredi en République centrafricaine (RCA) ont récupéré 1 300 armes à feu et 270 véhicules dans le cadre de la campagne de désarmement.

L'ambassadeur tchadien, Maitile Djoumbe, a restitué les armes lundi au chef d'état-major centrafricain, Antoine Gambi, a annoncé mardi à IRIN Augustin Bibaye, porte-parole de la force de la Communauté économique et monétaire des Etats de l'Afrique centrale (CEMAC).

M. Bibaye a indiqué que les troupes tchadiennes ont restitué les armes à feu, de toutes sortes, après qu'elles eurent désarmé les anciens militants rebelles du leader du coup de force, François Bozizé, et les jeunes de la capitale, Bangui, qui avaient volé des armes après le coup d'Etat du 15 mars. Selon M. Bibaye, certains véhicules récupérés sont en bon état mais un certain nombre d'entre-eux ont été endommagés.

Après le coup d'Etat au cours duquel le président Ange-Félix Patassé a été renversé, des jeunes armés de fusils volés dans le palais présidentiel, ont profité de la confusion pour piller des biens et des véhicules.

Parmi d'autres responsables de l'insécurité à Bangui, M. Bozizé a également désigné les milices privées, qui, estime-t-il, ont été armées et soutenues par l'ancien parti au pouvoir, le Mouvement de libération du peuple centrafricain (MLPC). M. Bozizé, qui s'est autoproclamé président, a indiqué que l'insécurité qui règne à Bangui l'a contraint à demander aux troupes tchadiennes et à la force de la CEMAC de restaurer le calme.

Outre la campagne de désarmement, des perquisitions systématiques ont été effectuées dans toutes les banlieues de Bangui, permettant aux troupes tchadiennes et aux soldats du maintien de la paix de la CEMAC de récupérer les biens pillés.

M. Bozizé a mis en place une commission, dirigée par le directeur de la police, pour rassembler et restituer les biens volés à leurs propriétaires.

Le désarmement a rassuré grand nombre de Banguissois, qui ont repris leurs activités journalières dès lundi.

Parallèlement, le statut officiel des 300 soldats tchadiens en RCA reste très flou puisque le sommet de la CEMAC qui s'est tenu vendredi dans la capitale de la République du Congo, Brazzaville, a repoussé leur intégration dans la force de la CEMAC jusqu'au prochain sommet.

Le porte-parole de M. Bozizé, Parfait Mbaye, a déclaré dimanche à IRIN que les soldats tchadiens rejoindraient la force de la CEMAC après révision de son mandat et de son budget.

The new leader of the Central African Republic (CAR), Francois Bozize, has appointed Abel Goumba as prime minister of a transitional government.

Goumba, 76, who is one of the founding fathers of the CAR in the 1950s, said it would take him at least a week to form his government.

"I cannot form a government without first having consultations with all the political forces, all the stakeholders, and the diaspora," he told IRIN on Sunday, just hours after his appointment.

He said the Concertation des partis politiques d'opposition, an alliance of 12 opposition parties, should perform an important role in the new administration.

Bozize, who seized power in a coup on 15 March, immediately engaged in intense consultations with political actors inside the country, including ousted President Ange-Felix Patasse's Mouvement de liberation du peuple centrafricain (MLPC). He enacted a transitional constitution, which does not set a time-frame for the transition.

A leading MLPC figure and former interior minister, Jacquesson Mazette, said on Saturday that his party's executive board would meet to decide whether it would be in the opposition or join the new government.

Meanwhile, hundreds of soldiers registered over the weekend to resume service on Monday, after a week of uncertainty. At least 1,000 soldiers - some in uniform, others in civilian clothes - registered on Saturday at one centre, the Ecole superieure d'administration et de magistrature.

At the same time, the military authorities organised door-to-door searches in Bangui's various suburbs for goods stolen during the massive looting that engulfed the capital in the aftermath of the coup. Soldiers, policemen and peacekeepers of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States (CEMAC)loaded trucks with recovered property for return to its owners. A similar operation to recover and return stolen vehicles has been ongoing since Thursday, led by the 100 Chadian soldiers reinforcing the 303-strong CEMAC force.

Life in the capital began returning to normal on Monday, with the reopening of shops and markets. Small numbers of cars appeared on the streets after the reopening of two petrol stations, selling rations of up to 10 litres to each vehicle.

Bozize conducted a number of meet-the-people tours in different parts of the city over the weekend, seeking to reassure local residents, business people and traders, and members of various religious denominations.

IRIN

L'article: "L'ancien parti au pouvoir soutient le nouveau leader"

L'ancien parti au pouvoir, le Mouvement de libération du peuple centrafricain (MLPC) du président Ange-Félix Patassé renversé par le coup de force de François Bozizé, a reconnu ce dernier comme le nouveau président de la République centrafricaine (RCA) et s'est déclaré prêt à participer à un gouvernement transitoire consensuel, sous réserve que la sécurité de ses leaders et de sa milice soient garanties.

" Monsieur le président, le MLPC, au nom de qui je parle aujourd'hui, a pris note du changement qui s'est produit à la tête de l'Etat ... et de la déclaration que vous avez faite à propos d'une transition consensuelle, " a déclaré jeudi Jacquesson Mazette - ministre de l'intérieur sous le régime de M. Patassé et l'une des figures du MLPC - à l'occasion d'une rencontre des partis politiques et de M. Bozizé.

Dans son allocution, diffusée sur les ondes de la radio catholique Notre-Dame, M. Mazette a salué l'arrivée de M.Bozizé au pouvoir et lui a recommandé de prendre les mesures nécessaires pour rassurer les dirigeants et les membres du MLPC qui sont aujourd'hui gravement menacés. " Si nous devons participer à cette transition consensuelle que vous avez annoncée, nous vous demandons de prendre les mesures nécessaires qui empêcheront que nous soyons pourchassés et qui nous permettront de rentrer chez nous dans la paix et la tranquillité, " a lancé M. Mazette, rappelant que leur domicile n'était plus qu'un souvenir puisqu'ils avaient tous été pillés.

M. Mazette ainsi qu'un grand nombre de ses collègues font partie des 110 personnes qui se sont réfugiées à l'ambassade du Nigeria à la suite du coup d'Etat orchestré le 15 mars par M. Bozizé. Des tentes ont été érigées pour les protéger de la pluie par les soldats de la force de la Communauté économique et monétaire des Etats de l'Afrique centrale (CEMAC) et le Comité international de la Croix-Rouge est en contact avec l'ambassade pour les questions liées à la santé.

En réponse, M. Bozizé, dont le bureau se trouve à Camp Beal, ancienne base militaire française, a reconnu que l'insécurité régnait dans la capitale

et a ajouté que cette situation justifiait son appel pour le déploiement de troupes étrangères. " Nous avons lancé un appel à l'armée tchadienne avec la CEMAC et les forces locales de sécurité en vue de régler ce problème, " selon M. Bozizé. Il a ajouté que les miliciens du MLPC étaient les principaux responsables du pillage des bureaux administratifs et des commerces. Il a indiqué que les dirigeants du MLPC avaient distribué des armes à la milice du parti.

Depuis son arrivée à Bangui mercredi, environ une centaine de soldats tchadiens patrouillent les rues de la capitale, bloquant l'accès au centre-ville et érigeant des postes de contrôle. Ils désarment également le " faux " personnel de sécurité - les jeunes armés de fusils volés dans le palais présidentiel qui ont participé aux innombrables actes de pillage.

Jeudi soir, des dizaines de véhicules appartenant aux " libérateurs " ont été saisis et garés près des postes de contrôle avant d'être rendus à leurs propriétaires.

La présence des Tchadiens semble avoir rassuré la population. La circulation a repris bien que les stations-essence soient restées fermées. Quelques magasins ont également rouvert.

A part le MLPC, d'autres forces politiques importantes ont déjà exprimé leur soutien total à M. Bozizé. Douze partis de l'opposition regroupés sous la Concertation des partis politiques d'opposition (CPPO) se sont déclarés prêts à participer à l'administration transitoire.

Même réaction pour le Rassemblement démocratique centrafricain (RDC), le parti de l'ancien président André Kolingba, qui avait lui aussi lancé une tentative de coup de force en mai 2001. Dans un communiqué publié mercredi, le RDC a demandé une amnistie générale pour tous les membres du parti, dont M. Kolingba, condamnés par contumace dans le cadre du procès sur la tentative de putsch. Le communiqué demandait aux membres du parti de se mettre à la disposition des nouvelles autorités.

Le Mouvement pour la démocratie et le développement (MDD) de l'ancien président David Dacko, a publié un communiqué déclarant que les idées de Bozizé se conformaient aux idéaux que M. Dacko avait toujours défendus. Le texte, publié mercredi, indiquait que le MDD contribuerait à la construction d'une nouvelle RCA.

IRIN

The Article: "Opposition salutes coup, opposes reinstatement of Patasse"

The opposition alliance, the Concertation des partis politiques d'opposition, which groups 12 parties, has offered its full support to Francois Bozize, the former army chief of staff who declared himself the new leader of the Central African Republic after overthrowing President Ange-Felix Patasse in a coup last Saturday.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the opposition alliance chairman, Abel Goumba, said the group would vigorously oppose any attempt to reinstate Patasse as president, and that it would support all steps taken to manage a transitional period. Goumba, who was received by Bozize on Tuesday, told IRIN that the alliance was ready to take part in a national transitional council, in which former heads of state would participate as honorary members. "The council will act as a law-making body," he said.

Bozize’s coup has been condemned by several international institutions, such as the African Union and the UN, and also by a number of heads of state.

The opposition alliance has urged the people to turn out in force for a peaceful demonstration soon to be organised as a sign of support for Bozize.

The article: "Chad sends troops, France says coup 'absolutely unacceptable'"

Chad sent 100 soldiers to the Central African Republic (CAR) on Wednesday to reinforce the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States (CEMAC) forces, Parfait Mbaye, the spokesman for Francois Bozize, the leader of the 15 March coup, told IRIN that day.

Also on Wednesday, Radio France International (RFI) reported that France had pledged to keep its 300-strong troop contingent in the CAR capital, Bangui, "for as long as possible".

"They are coming to boost the CEMAC forces," Mbaye said of the Chadian troops, adding that the final size of the Chadian contingent was yet to be established.

The Chadian troops, who were not wearing CEMAC badges, but were dressed in their national army uniform, patrolled central Bangui on Thursday. They set up two roadblocks where they checked the identification of the few motorists on the roads.

In an interview on RFI on Wednesday, the French minister of state for cooperation, Pierre-Andre Wiltzer, said the French troops would remain in Bangui "until the situation becomes somewhat stable".

He added: "I am saying it again - and the French government said it officially - that this country has fallen victim to a military coup. And as far as we are concerned, this situation is absolutely unacceptable," Wiltzer said, adding that France was working with CEMAC to "do everything possible to restore calm and democratic normalcy" in the CAR.

Wiltzer said democracy in the CAR would be achieved through national dialogue, and that efforts must be made urgently to make the dialogue possible.

Regional heads of state established the CEMAC force in October 2002. The force was to comprise troops from Gabon, the Republic of Congo (ROC), Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon and Mali, which is not a CEMAC member.

As Chad and the CAR were parties to the conflict, they were not authorised to contribute troops to the force, whose mission was to protect former President Ange-Felix Patasse, now in Cameroon, monitor the securing of the CAR-Chad border and restructure the army.

"This [the arrival of the Chadians] is not a violation of the heads of state’s decision," Mbaye told IRIN.

The deployment of the Chadian troops came in response to a call by Bozize, who has declared himself CAR president, to Chad to contribute troops to the CEMAC force.

Patasse’s administration had accused Chad of supporting Bozize in his bid to overthrow the government. Speaking on Africa No.1 Radio on Wednesday, Chadian Foreign Minister Moktar Wawa Dahab said the deployment of the troops was in response to a request by CEMAC. Dahab added that the contingent would also protect Chadian nationals living in the CAR, who, he said numbered about one million.

"The upholding of the CEMAC force is established as granted, but the force’s mandate will be revised to deal more with the restructuring [of the army] and disarmament," Mbaye said.

During their visit to Bangui on Tuesday, the foreign ministers of Gabon and the ROC announced that a CEMAC extraordinary summit was scheduled in the ROC capital, Brazzaville, on Thursday. Mbaye said Bozize had not been invited to the summit.

"It is during that summit that a decision will be taken about the future of the [CEMAC] force," Augustin Bibaye, the CEMAC force’s spokesman, told IRIN on Tuesday.

According to Mbaye, former top officials in Patasse's government, whose homes had been looted, were hiding in the French, Chadian and Nigerian embassies and in the UN Peace-building Office in the CAR. The whereabouts of former Prime Minister Martin Ziguele remain unknown.

He said Bozize had on Tuesday met Abel Goumba, who represented a coalition of CAR politicians. Bozize was also scheduled to meet the leaders of Patasse’s Mouvement de liberation du peuple centrafricain in an effort to put in place a national unity transitional government, Mbaye said.

Meanwhile, gunshots from Zongo town, situated across the Oubangui river in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from Bangui, were heard on late Tuesday into Wednesday. Bangui residents, as well as Bozize's supporters, fear an attack from northern DRC, where rebel leader Jean Pierre Bemba’s troops are based. Bemba's troops have until recently been supporting Patasse’s administration - ever since October 2002.

Analysts see the presence of Chadian troops in the CAR as a means of dissuading Bemba from attacking. Bemba's troops were patrolling the DRC side of the Oubangui river on Wednesday. "If our country is attacked, then we will defend it," Bozize said on Television Centrafricaine the same day.

Meanwhile, schools, petrol stations, banks and administrative offices in Bangui remain closed on Thursday. A number of shops, guarded by armed men believed to be Chadians, reopened on Tuesday. There were no signs of looting on Wednesday and Thursday.

The special envoys of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States (CEMAC), Jean Ping and Rudolph Adada, met on Tuesday the new leader of the Central African Republic, Francois Bozize, for consultations on last week’s coup.

"They [Ping and Adada] had two missions: to assess the state of the CEMAC force after the recent events and to seek Bozize's point of view on what happened," Col Augustin Bibaye, the CEMAC peacekeeping force spokesman, told IRIN on Tuesday.

Ping and Adada are the foreign affairs ministers respectively of Gabon and the Republic of Congo (ROC).

Bibaye said that in view of the situation evolving in the CAR, the CEMAC heads of state, who on Thursday are to hold an extraordinary summit on the country’s situation, needed to hear at first hand from Bozize. Bibaye said Bozize had not been invited to that summit, whose venue is yet to be fixed. "It is during that summit that a decision will be taken about the future of the [CEMAC] force," Bibaye said.

With strength of 303 men, the CEMAC force had been mandated by the regional organisation to protect former President Ange-Felix Patasse - now in neighbouring Cameroon, monitor the securing of the CAR-Chad border, and restructure the CAR army. Patasse was overthrown on Saturday while attending a meeting outside his country.

Bozize has asked the CEMAC force and the 300 French soldiers sent to protect their nationals to stay and help stabilise the country. This, as well as Bozize’s demand that the CEMAC force include a Chadian contingent, is to be examined at the CEMAC summit on Thursday. Chadian mercenaries have supported Bozize's fighters. Africa No.1 Radio, a Gabonese private broadcaster, announced that Chad had agreed to send a military contingent the capital, Bangui, to reinforce the CEMAC force.

Three ROC CEMAC soldiers died in the weekend's fighting at Bangui M'poko Airport. Their bodies were flown to Libreville, the Gabonese capital, for the onward journey home. Bibaye said that also one Gabonese, one Equatorial Guinean and two Congolese soldiers had been slightly wounded. As for the presence of French troops, Bibaye said the CEMAC force had not received any "precise information about their mission". Before being flown to Bangui, the CEMAC force was trained and equipped by France at its Libreville military base.

Bozize has yet to form a government, although he has had "political talks" with the Convention des partis politiques d'opposition, an alliance of 12 opposition parties, in an effort to put in place a consensual transitional administration.

Meanwhile, schools, banks and administrative offices reopened on Tuesday. Some shops, which were guarded by armed men believed to be Chadians, also reopened. There are very few vehicles on the streets, because petrol stations have remained shut. Looting has stopped.

The whereabouts of Prime Minister Martin Ziguele and his officials remain unknown. Some 40 people, including leading MPs of Patasse's party, the Mouvement pour la liberaton du peuple centrafricain, and their families and relatives, have sought refuge in the Nigerian embassy in Bangui, which is providing them with food.

The leader of the coup in the Central African Republic (CAR), Francois Bozize, met army and police chiefs on Monday in an attempt to impose law and order in the capital.

"Our top priority is the capital's security," Parfait Mbaye, Bozize's spokesman, told IRIN.

Mbaye added that there was "no animosity" between the leaders of ousted President Ange-Felix Patasse's security forces and the new administration, and that many soldiers, gendarmes and policemen had resumed their duties.

However, the looting that started when Bozize's fighters entered Bangui and overthrew the government on Saturday continued through Monday. Youths armed with weapons stolen from Patasse's official home bound their heads with turbans, to look like Chadians, and went on looting sprees, targeting vehicles and other property. The ousted government had often accused Chad of supporting Bozize.

In a communique on state-owned Radio Centrafrique, Bozize, the CAR former army chief of staff, promised that searches would be carried out to "unmask the thieves and other looters" who had pillaged the capital after the coup. Eight alleged looters were shot dead by soldiers on Monday in various suburbs of Bangui.

Offices, schools and shops remained closed on Tuesday, despite Bozize's call for a resumption of normal activities. Looters also gutted petrol stations, making transport more difficult.

Meanwhile, 150 French soldiers, redeployed from the Gabonese capital, Libreville, arrived in Bangui on Monday. They were the first of 300 troops sent by France to evacuate French nationals and to secure the main M'poko airport, AFP reported. Sixty French women and children were flown to Gabon on a French army plane on Sunday, the French foreign ministry said. Around 100 French nationals have taken refuge at the French embassy in Bangui, while others gathered at various sites after their homes were looted.

Bozize, who was until the coup in exile in France, has called on Paris and member states of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community to send more troops to help stabilise his country.

The African Union (AU) has condemned the coup and called for the reinstatement of Patasse's democratically elected government. The AU's Central Organ of the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution in the African Union has recommended CAR's suspension from the continental body.

Rebel leader Francois Bozize - whose forces seized power on Saturday in the Central African Republic - has declared himself head of state, suspended the constitution and announced plans for a National Transitional Council to run the country.

"I will receive as soon as possible all the political parties and stakeholders so that we can agree on a consensual transitional programme," Bozize announced in a broadcast to the nation on Sunday.

He said former heads of state would be honorary members of the council. He said his administration's priorities would be to pursue talks with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on a "post-conflict" accord, restructure and reunify the national army and the administration; seize illegal weapons; reform financial services; intensify the campaign against HIV/AIDS; and prepare free and fair elections. He gave no timeframe for his rule.

Bozize imposed a 10-day curfew from 7:00 pm to 6:00 am; warned the public against looting; and asked people to go about their normal business beginning Monday. He decreed that secretaries-general and directors in all ministries remain at their post until appointment of new ministers.

Bozize, the country's former army chief of staff, first launched an unsuccessful bid to seize power on 25 October 2002 when he invaded the capital, Bangui. Libyan troops, then guarding President Ange-Felix Patasse, flushed out Bozize's men forcing their retreat north across the border into Chad. The Libyans left the country earlier this year, and were replaced by some 300 troops of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States, CEMAC.

Bozize's forces entered Bangui on Saturday unopposed, capturing the presidential palace and the Bangui M'poko Airport, both of which were guarded by CEMAC troops. The CEMAC troops offered no resistance and withdrew from both sites to their barracks near the airport; abandoning the presidential palace to looters.

"Our mission was not to defend the [presidential] residence but the head of the state, and I think that we have not failed in our mission," Colonel Basile Sillou, the CEMAC force's chief of staff, told IRIN on Sunday.

However, he said his men would defend themselves if attacked. He added that the force had suspended its patrols in Bangui the capital, but would resume them "very soon". He said that the force commander was awaiting orders from CEMAC before taking further action.

Fighters of Jean-Pierre Bemba's Mouvement de Liberation du Congo (MLC), who have been backing Patasse since October 2002, fled across the Oubangui River into northwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo, taunted by a jeering and hostile public. The MLC had been blamed for widespread looting and rape when they helped Patasse's army put down the October rebellion.

In contrast, the public welcomed Bozize's men on Saturday, some spreading out their clothes on the ground for the rebel vehicles to pass. The speed of Bozize's seizure of the capital surprised many. Until recently, the government troops had recaptured some towns in rebel hands - and seemed to have the upper hand. Last week Patasse announced a relaxation in the offensive against the rebels in an effort to convene a national political dialogue facilitated in Rome by the Italian Roman Catholic community, Sante Egidio.

Patasse was overthrown as he returned form the fifth summit of the Community of Sahel and Saharan (CEN-SAD) in Niamey, Niger's capital. Rebels shot at his plane as it attempted to land at M'Poko Airport, forcing the pilot to divert to Yaounde, capital of neighbouring Cameroon.

All of Patasse's officials fled their homes, which were looted by angry mobs. They took away household goods, cars. From the home of the commander of the presidential guards battalion, looters stole Russian-made Kalashnikov automatic assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. Most of the youth involved in the looting of the firearms joined Bozize's men as they drove around the city aboard stolen UN, diplomatic and private cars.

The public largely ignored a call on Sunday by Bozize's spokesman, Capt Parfait Mbaye, Bozize's spokesman, to stop looting. Mbaye also ordered all government soldiers and gendarmes to return to barracks or be treated as deserters.

Warehouses belonging to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), private homes, and offices of the Brethren Church Mission and the Faculte de Theologie Evangelique de Bangui (the Theological Evangelical faculty of Bangui) were looted. At least 1,000 mt of food was also taken from the World Food Programme's warehouses in Bangui, the agency's representative, David Bulman, told IRIN on Monday.

He said WFP was trying to retrieve the food for distribution among the most vulnerable people. He added that once security had been restored WFP would also bring from Cameroon 1,700 mt of food.

So far, there has not been any massive displacement of Bangui residents. Casualty figures are unknown although corpses litter the city centre and the road by the looted building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Most of the dead and wounded have been taken to the military hospital, which was not staffed on Sunday.

Patasse, 65, had held power since 1993 when he won the first democratic elections, and was re-elected in 1999. During his 10 years in office, he faced three military mutinies and four coup attempts. His predecessor, Andre Kolingba, organised one coup on 28 May 2001. The others were by Bozize on 2 November 2001, 25 October 2002 and Saturday's successful bid.

Condemnation of the coup has been swift. The African Union, the continent's foremost political body, "strongly condemned" Bozize's action. It’s chairman, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, said the coup undermined the continent's effort aimed at sustained development. In a statement issued on Monday, The South African Department of Foreign Affairs said, "The African continent will never countenance any unconstitutional transfer of power whatever the quarter."

Niger President Mamadou Tandia, in his capacity as chairman of the CEN-SAD, called on the international community to take "concerted action" to immediately re-establish constitutional rule.

IRIN

L'article: "Le président ordonne à l'armée de relâcher ses efforts de guerre contre les rebelles"

Le président de la République centrafricaine, Ange-Félix Patassé, a déclaré mercredi qu'il avait ordonné à son armée de relâcher ses efforts de guerre contre les rebelles afin de créer une atmosphère favorable à la tenue d'un dialogue national sur la crise politique du pays.

Revenant d'une visite au Gabon pour une entrevue avec le président Omar Bongo, M. Patassé a déclaré que les deux hommes avaient évoqué la possibilité de tenir une partie du dialogue national dans un pays autre que la RCA. C'est la première fois que M. Patassé a suggéré que les pourparlers pour le dialogue pourraient avoir lieu en dehors de la RCA. La tenue d'un dialogue dans un pays étranger exigerait vraisemblablement un budget de plus de 750 millions de francs CFA (1,2 million de dollars).

Lundi, le coordinateur du dialogue, l'évêque Paulin Pomodimo, a donné les clés de deux immeubles où siègera le secrétariat. La semaine dernière, la Chine a donné l'équivalent de 106 000 dollars en faveur des pourparlers de réconciliation.

Avant l'ouverture du dialogue, a indiqué mercredi à IRIN M. Pomodimo, les belligérants tiendront des pourparlers préliminaires avec certains partis politiques, sous les auspices de Sante Egidio - une organisation catholique italienne. " Il s'agit d'une rencontre entre les principaux protagonistes sur le terrain militaire pour déblayer le terrain avant la tenue du dialogue national, " a-t-il expliqué.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is "extremely worried" by the volatile situation in the Central African Republic (CAR), UN News reported on Friday. The UN agency reported that a new influx of asylum seekers from the CAR had entered the Republic of Congo (ROC).

The UNHCR has dispatched a team to verify reports of the arrival of 600 Central Africans at the small town of Betikoumba in the ROC, UN News said, adding that in February, some 200 Central Africans had fled fighting from areas south of the CAR capital, Bangui, into Betikoumba.

UN News quoted NGOs working in Betikoumba as saying that new refugees had started arriving on Thursday morning, following a night of fighting in nearby CAR town of Mongoumba, on the border junction between the CAR, the ROC and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The Wednesday night violence followed a five-day standoff between government troops and their Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) allies from the DRC. The CAR minister of state for the interior, Jacquesson Mazette, told IRIN on Friday that there had been a misunderstanding between the government troops and the MLC forces, but it had been settled.

Witnesses said the standoff began on 2 March when government troops in Mongoumba, 189 km south of the capital, Bangui, stopped two river boats carrying MLC militiamen withdrawing from the CAR with goods they had looted. The troops seized the boats, then disarmed and arrested the passengers.

After being released, the militiamen crossed the River Oubangui for the DRC, but returned on Wednesday with reinforcements. They then looted the homes of the town’s 10,000 residents and its Roman Catholic mission. "Ten thousand people have run away into the bush and to Betou," Alphonse Kossi, a priest and the national executive secretary-general of Catholic relief agency, Caritas, told IRIN on Friday.

Instability inside CAR had also driven thousands of people into neighbouring Chad, UN News reported. By the middle of last week, the number of new arrivals in southern Chad had increased to 26,000, though daily numbers had subsided to between 100 and 150 people a day.

IRIN

L'article: "Retour au calme dans le sud-ouest après des affrontements entre le MLC"

Le calme est revenu jeudi au sud de la République centrafricaine (RCA), dans la ville de Mongoumba et les villages environnants, après cinq jours d'affrontements entre les troupes du gouvernement et leurs alliés du Mouvement de libération du Congo (MLC) de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC).

" Il y a eu un malentendu, mais tout est réglé depuis hier [vendredi], " a indiqué à IRIN Jacquesson Mazette, ministre centrafricain de l'intérieur.

Des témoins ont indiqué que les tensions ont commencé dimanche lorsque les troupes du gouvernement de Mongoumba, à 189 km au sud de la capitale, Bangui, ont arrêté deux bateaux à bord desquels se trouvaient des miliciens du MLC qui quittaient la RCA avec les biens qu'ils avaient pillés. Les troupes ont saisi les bateaux, puis ont désarmé et arrêté les passagers.

Après avoir été relâchés, les miliciens ont traversé le fleuve Oubangui pour gagner la RDC et sont revenus mercredi avec des renforts. Ils ont ensuite pillé les maisons des 10 000 habitants de la ville ainsi que la Mission catholique.

" Dix mille personnes ont fui dans la brousse et jusqu'à Betou, " a indiqué vendredi à IRIN Alphonse Kossi, prêtre et secrétaire général national de l'institution de secours catholique, Caritas.

Betou est situé à la frontière de la République du Congo avec la RCA, sur la rive droite du fleuve Oubangui. Le MLC et les troupes du gouvernement ont échangé des coups de feu. Une station parrainée par l'ONU, Radio Ndeke Luka a fait état, de " source cléricale ", d'importants tirs de mortier dans la ville, en provenance de la rive congolaise du fleuve. On ignore, pour l'heure, le bilan des victimes.

Face à cette crise, Caritas réfléchit déjà aux meilleurs moyens d'aider les personnes déplacées de Mongouba.

Jusqu'à présent, Mongoumba avait été épargnée par les combats qui ont touché une grande partie du pays. Les affrontements de cette semaine se sont produits alors que le MLC poursuivait son retrait de la RCA après avoir aidé les troupes du gouvernement à repousser les rebelles fidèles à l'ancien chef de l'état-major militaire en RCA, François Bozizé.

Parallèlement, le gouvernement a démenti les informations selon lesquelles son armée aurait perdu le contrôle de Bossangoa et de Bozoum, des villes situées respectivement à 305 km et 284 km au nord-ouest de Bangui. Les combattants du MLC, le long d'une route située à 12 km du centre de Bangui, ont vu arriver les troupes de Bossentele, à 295 km au nord-ouest de Bangui, mais ont pensé qu'elles se retiraient de Bossangoa.

" Je vous assure que ni Bossangoa ni Bozoum ne sont entre les mains des rebelles, " a déclaré M. Mazette.

Residents of Bambari, a town 385 km northeast of the capital, Bangui, have called on the government to reopen the main road leading from Bangui to the east, which has been closed since October 2002, when renegade troops tried to overthrow the government, according to Radio Centrafrique.

Bambari has been without electric power and safe drinking water for the past three months because state-owned utility companies have run out of fuel. The radio said on Thursday that health centres and the university teaching hospital in Bambari had registered several cases of diarrhoea. The radio also reported that the teaching hospital was facing acute shortages of drugs and other medical supplies. The hospital last received drugs in October 2002.

The closure of the road has also prevented the supply of basic commodities, whose prices have risen sharply. One litre of kerosene that cost 375 francs CFA (US $0.6) before the rebels started their war now sells for 2,000 francs. Similarly, one litre of gasoline that used to cost 675 francs now sells for 2,500 francs.

Moreover, thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) have flocked to Bambari from the rebel-held towns of Grimari, Bakala and Mbres (respectively 305 km, 384 km and 425 km northeast of Bangui). These IDPs have not yet received any aid. The UN World Food Programme representative in the CAR, David Bulman, said he had withdrawn his staff from the agency’ s sub-office in Bambari because of threats by armed people.

Bambari, one of the largest towns in the east, withstood two rebel incursions in December 2002. A witness to these incursions said the rebels had attacked official buildings, looted vehicles, telecommunication equipment and drugs, and stolen money from Lebanese merchants. Being behind rebel lines until recently, the town was isolated from the capital.

03 / 06 / 2003

IRIN

The Article: "Commission set up to rehabilitate returning civil servants"

Central African Republic (CAR) President Ange-Felix Patasse issued a decree on Tuesday establishing a commission to rehabilitate former civil servants returning from exile, and to propose their reintegration, according to government-owned Radio Centrafrique.

It reported on Wednesday that a magistrate of the Court of Appeal (Cour de Cassation) would head the commission, which is expected to complete its work in three months. Members of the commission will comprise the chief prosecutor and representatives from the defence and public service ministries, labour unions and the CAR lawyers’ association. The decree indicated that the commission would be expected to submit a report to the president on completion of its mandate.

The radio said the commission would "carry out a census of [former] civil servants returning from exile, check the circumstances of their going into exile, and ask them whether they wished to resume service [in their original departments] or be transferred to another service".

Intellectuals and civil servants fled the country due to internal conflict. Yakoma (former President Andre Kolingba's ethnic group) civil servants, intellectuals and about 1,500 soldiers fled to neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Congo following Kolinba's 28 May 2001 abortive coup.

More CAR nationals fled following the 2 November 2001 armed resistance and the 25 October 2002 coup attempt by the former army chief of staff, Francois Bozize. Most of those who left in 2002 were members of Bozize's Gbaya ethnic group. Troops loyal to Bozize have since been fighting the government's forces. Patasse has on many occasions urged Bozize's men to lay down their arms and rejoin the army.

Analysts see Patasse’s formation of the commission, which follows his call for a national dialogue, as a manifestation of a more positive attitude towards his opponents, who have used the non-rehabilitation of former civil servants as an argument against his leadership.

The leader of the national dialogue coordination team of the Central African Republic (CAR), Bishop Paulin Pomodimo, held talks with leaders of the Coordination des patriotes centrafricains (CPC), an opposition alliance based in Paris, during a recent trip to Europe and the United States, according to Radio France International (RFI).

"I realised there were many converging points of view between what the rebels were saying and what we wish for [in] holding the national dialogue," Pomodimo told the government-owned Radio Centrafrique on return to the capital, Bangui, on Sunday.

RFI reported on Sunday that Pomodimo and his deputy, Henri Maidou, had met Karim Meckassoua, the CPC secretary-general. The CPC groups together all opposition leaders in exile, including the former CAR army chief of staff, Francois Bozize, whose troops have been fighting the government since October 2002.

Pomodimo told Radio Centrafrique that he would give more details of his trip after briefing President Ange-Felix Patasse. He did not indicate when he would brief the president.

Although Pomodimo and Maidou did not meet Bozize, they held talks with his envoys in Paris. Bozize, who was chief of staff until August 2001, has been living in exile in France since October 2002 when he was expelled from neighbouring Chad.

Government troops are currently driving Bozize's men out of most of the northern cities, which they had been occupying since October 2002.

"It is not on the military ground that we will settle the crisis that paralyses us," Pomodimo told the government radio.

Patasse announced plans for the national reconciliation dialogue on 25 November 2002 in a bid to end the rebellion. Analysts and the donor community regard the proposed dialogue as the best option for the CAR. Neither the venue nor the date of the talks has been fixed. While Patasse says the talks will take place in Bangui, both the internal opposition and those in exile demand that they be held in another country.

Those opposed to Patasse also demand a general amnesty and the withdrawal of the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) combatants from the CAR. Based in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo, the MLC troops have been backing the government army since October 2002.

The provisional budget for the national dialogue has been set at 750 million francs CFA (US $1.2 million).

Meanwhile, reporters of privately owned newspapers in Bangui on Monday went on strike in protest against the arrest and imprisonment of their colleague, Mathurin Momet, the publication director of Le Confident. Momet was arrested on 23 February, allegedly for having written anti-MLC articles. No newspaper was sold in Bangui on Monday.

L'article: "Le commandant de la force de la CEMAC préoccupé par l'insuffisance de troupes"

Les 303 soldats de la Communauté économique et monétaire des Etats de l'Afrique centrale (CEMAC) déployés pour le maintien de la paix et d'autres tâches en République centrafricaine (RCA) sont en nombre insuffisant pour remplir à bien cette mission, d'après le nouveau commandant de cette force,le contre-amiral, Martin Mavoungou.

"C'est une préoccupation de tous les responsables politiques de la sous-région, " a-t-il déclaré mardi au micro de la station officielle Radio Centrafrique. " C'est une question qui est en étude, je pense que ça évoluera et que des dispositions complémentaires seront prises pour nous permettre d'avoir quelque chose de plus substantiel. " Ses propos ont été diffusés le lendemain de sa rencontre avec le président de la RCA, le président Ange-Félix Patassé.

Sur les 303 soldats de la paix actuellement déployés, 146 troupes viennent du Gabon, 126 de la République du Congo et 31 de la Guinée Equatoriale. Un plus grand nombre de troupes sont attendues en provenance du Cameroun et du Mali. Ce dernier pays ne fait pas partie de la CEMAC.

La CEMAC a décidé de la mise en place de cette force d'interposition au cours d'un sommet qui s'est tenu le 2 octobre 2002 dans la capitale gabonaise, Libreville. Sa mission est de protéger le président Patassé, de surveiller la frontière entre le Tchad et la RCA et de restructurer l'armée de la RCA. Cette force, déployée fin décembre 2002, effectue aussi des patrouilles dans les rues de la capitale, Bangui.

IRIN

L'article: "Interview with Lamine Cisse, UN secretary-general's representative"

The Central African Republic (CAR) has been in political turmoil ever since an army mutiny in 1996. The government has been using its military to try to crush the rebel supporters of former the army chief of staff, Francois Bozize, which have retreated into the north of the country.

Meanwhile, efforts have been continuing - since 25 November 2002 when President Ange-Felix Patasse also called for a national dialogue - to reconcile the country's bitter political rivals. The UN Peace-building Office in the CAR (BONUCA) backs the holding of such a dialogue. Lamine Cisse, the head of BONUCA, who is also the UN secretary-general's representative in the country, talked to IRIN on 1 March about the problem. The following are excerpts from that interview.

ANSWER: The country's salvation rests on it. The country's sons and daughters must talk among themselves around a table. Dialogue is the only way out for this country.

Q: The UN usually plays a very important role in peace talks in Africa, which is the case in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo. Will the UN be involved in the CAR national dialogue?

A: Yes. During the last 16 months all the UN Security Council's recommendations have called for national and political dialogue. It was the same case with the statements made by the Security Council's chairman. The UN will play a part in that dialogue, which it called for through political and diplomatic actions. We think that dialogue will lead to peace and stability in the CAR.

A: The UN Peace-building Office has initiated talks between political parties and parliamentarians. So far, two such conferences have taken place, grouping together all the parties and political actors in the CAR. The political parties have asked for this conference to be institutionalised and convened periodically. Recommendations were made and a follow-up committee was set up.

This is only a dialogue between political parties. One must add to them labour unions and civil society to achieve a national forum. The UN has been working within that framework, and when President Patasse announced the dialogue, the UN worked together with all the parties, both presidential and opposition, labour unions and the civil society, until a committee was set up to prepare and manage the dialogue. Thus, the UN has been involved since the beginning.

Q: The dialogue coordination team has recently fixed a provisional budget of 750 million francs CFA [US $1.3 million] but has had difficulties in collecting this amount. Will the UN contribute financially?

A: Something is being done to get the money, and I do not think there will be a problem with the budget. Apart from the UN, donors are also involved. The coordinators have toured Paris, Brussels, the European Union, and the UN. On Thursday [27 February] they were at the UN Political Affairs Department. Yesterday [28 February] they met the CAR Friends' Association. During their meetings, the coordinators briefed their interlocutors on the situation, their working methodology and their objectives. Getting the money will not be difficult. Also, the UN agencies here will certainly contribute financially.

Q: All parties to the conflict are trying to strengthen their positions before entering the dialogue. What bearing does such jockeying for position have on efforts to hold the national dialogue?

A: One goes to negotiations or dialogue with a very specific goal. Certain assailants [rebel spokesmen] have demanded a national dialogue. Now that the country is heading towards this, I think their demand is being met.

Then, when one goes to negotiations, one needs to be in a comfortable military position. What is happening on the ground is quite natural, and we have witnessed the same situation in many countries. Cities are taken and retaken, conquered and reconquered, but that is the military situation.

The most important thing is the political situation and the expected dialogue. It is only the success or failure of the dialogue that can clarify the military situation. The recent and current events [the government counteroffensive launched on 13 February] on the ground cannot put the dialogue into question.

Q: One aspect of the CAR crisis is the conflict with Chad. On 15 February, Chadian President Idriss Deby visited his CAR counterpart. How do you perceive that beginning of reconciliation between the two countries and heads of state?

A: President Deby paid a state and courtesy visit to President Patasse. It was in response to the visit President Patasse had paid him in N'djamena [in February 2002], which is quite normal. Of course, given the evolution of the situation on the ground, the two heads of state expedited things so that they could meet and settle a number of problems. Fortunately, their meeting took place on 15 February. The meeting was very positive, first because both presidents met in front of the population and demanded a meeting of the joint CAR-Chad commission. I recall that all the UN recommendations have called for the reactivation of all CAR-Chad-Sudan cooperation mechanisms. Among them is the joint CAR-Chad commission.

The reconciliation process [between the CAR and Chadian presidents] continued in Paris during the Franco-African Summit.

CEMAC [the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States] under the chairmanship of [Republic of Congo] President Denis Sassou-Nguesso held a meeting to try and find a way out of the CAR-Chad conflict. The meeting was a huge success.

We think that the joint commission will meet in March. President Deby's visit launched a reconciliation process, and now we think that the two countries are heading towards full reconciliation.

Q: Human rights violations have been reported on both sides during the crisis. What will the UN do about that?

A: One should first concentrate on the situation in zones held either by the assailants or by loyalist troops, where people lack everything. We have first to assess the situation, and this must be strictly in humanitarian terms. Such a mission has already taken place [26 February] in Sibut [184 km northeast of Bangui] and Damara [80 km northeast of Bangui]. The mission did not focus on human rights. It focused on the humanitarian situation. The priority is to see how to assist those people in the humanitarian and health areas. What the UN is currently doing is to send joint UN-humanitarian agencies-government assessment missions.

Later, human rights violations will certainly be dealt with by an international investigative commission. CAR and Chad have agreed to set up that commission. The UN agencies did not focus on human right investigations, but instead on humanitarian assistance. This should be clear. Now when the specialists in human rights investigations come, they will determine who did what. We can say these people have suffered excesses. They need assistance. We are not here to point publicly at those who committed excesses.

Q: Analysts say that another aspect of the CAR conflict is the country's chaotic financial situation. The UN secretary-general recently asked the donors to help the CAR. Has anything been done?

A: The UN secretary-general and the UN Security Council have called on donors and financial institutions to aid the CAR and consider its situation as an exceptional one. The calls received responses to a certain extent, but not fully. The government, together with the UN, is trying to improve the situation. Meetings have recently taken place and others will take place on the payment of the debt to the African Development Bank and on the programme to be signed by the CAR, the IMF and the World Bank.

We all know - and I repeat - that the solution to the CAR problem resides in the signing of an accord with the IMF. So long as this accord is not signed, we will be running around the bush. The country's security, stability and democracy depend on that accord. One cannot have democracy when there is no development, and one cannot have development when there is no security. All these problems are linked and must be settled all at once.

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