Central African Republic Rebels Ignore Negotiation
Source: ABC News
By KRISTA LARSON and HIPPOLYTE MARBOUA Associated Press
BANGUI, Central African Republic December 31, 2012
President Francois Bozize's government came under growing threat Monday as rebels vowing to overthrow him rejected appeals from the African Union to hold their advance and try to form a coalition government. Meanwhile, dozens of troops from Republic of Congo arrived at sunset on New Year's Eve in Bangui, the capital, as part of an effort to step up the presence of a multinational regional military force.
After disembarking from their military aircraft, the group of about 120 men was headed toward the line between government forces and a coalition of four rebel groups known as Seleka north of Bangui. The rebels have seized control of about 10 towns in less than a month's time, and now have moved within striking distance to the capital, a city of more than 700,000 people. The government has imposed a curfew of 7 p.m., leaving the streets largely empty on New Year's Eve.
Soldiers from Central African Republic and a regional military force are currently in Damara, about 75 kilometers (45 miles) from Bangui. The rebels, meanwhile, are holding the city of Sibut, which is about 185 kilometers (115 miles) away. The rebels on Monday said they did not trust Bozize's offer to form a unity government, raising fears they could attempt confrontation with government forces in the coming days.
The ongoing instability here already has prompted the United States to evacuate about 40 people, including the U.S. ambassador, from Bangui on an U.S. Air Force plane bound for Kenya, U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the operation.... The United States has special forces troops in the country who are assisting in the hunt for Joseph Kony, the fugitive rebel leader of another rebel group known as the Lord's Resistance Army. The U.S. special forces remain in the country, the U.S. military's Africa Command said from its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.
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By LYDIA POLGREEN
Published: December 31, 2012
JOHANNESBURG — As efforts to broker a deal to stop a rebel advance failed, residents of the capital of the Central African Republic were packing up their belongings and fleeing into the country’s vast hinterlands, fearing a major battle between government troops and guerrilla fighters. Rebels rejected an offer from the country’s president, François Bozizé. It was brokered by the African Union and proposed forming a government of national unity. But the rebels balked, saying that previous agreements with the president had been made and quickly broken. Rebels rejected an offer from the country’s president, François Bozizé. It was brokered by the African Union and proposed forming a government of national unity. But the rebels balked, saying that previous agreements with the president had been made and quickly broken. “Bozizé speaks, but does not keep his word,” said a rebel spokesman, Juma Narkoyo. “That is why we have taken up arms to make our voices heard.”
The rebel coalition, known as Seleka, is made up of several groups of fighters opposed to the government of Mr. Bozizé, who came to power after a brief civil war in 2003 and has had a tenuous grip on the presidency ever since, winning two elections but facing a constant threat of rebellions aimed at toppling him. The Seleka rebels say that Mr. Bozizé has not lived up to the terms of a peace agreement signed in 2007. Mr. Narkoyo said the rebels had no plans to seize the capital, Bangui, but in the past they have advanced despite claims that they would stay put.
Government officials, meanwhile, said that the rebels were not actually from the Central African Republic, but were instead foreign provocateurs bent on destabilizing one of the most fragile nations in Africa in order to exploit its mineral wealth. “They are Chadians, Sudanese and Nigerians,” said Louis Oguéré Ngaïkouma, secretary general of Mr. Bozizé’s political party. “It is a conspiracy against the people of the Central African Republic and its president to steal our riches.”
Suspicion of one’s neighbors is no idle thing in this part of Africa, where local wars often become wider conflagrations. The Democratic Republic of Congo, which lies to the south of the Central African Republic, has been caught up in one of the deadliest conflicts of the last half-century as Rwandan, Ugandan and Congolese troops fought over the country’s bounty of diamonds, coltan and tin. War in Sudan, which lies north of the Central African Republic, has also spilled over into its neighbors, especially Chad, which also borders the Central African Republic.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/01/world/africa/residents-flee-bangui-capital-of-central-africa-republic.html
Soldiers from Congo arrived at Central African Republic's capital Bangui Monday.