Central African Republic appeals for French help against rebels, Paris balks
By Paul-Marin Ngoupana
BANGUI | Thu Dec 27, 2012 3:23pm EST
(Reuters) - The president of the Central African Republic appealed on
Thursday for <
http://www.reuters.com/places/france> France and the United
States to help push back rebels threatening his government and the capital,
but Paris said its troops were only ready to protect French nationals.
The exchanges came as regional African leaders tried to broker a ceasefire
deal and as rebels said they had temporarily halted their advance on Bangui,
the capital, to allow talks to take place.
Insurgents on motorbikes and in pickup trucks have driven to within 75 km
(45 miles) of Bangui after weeks of fighting, threatening to end President
Francois Bozize's nearly 10-year-stint in charge of the turbulent,
resource-rich country.
French nuclear energy group Areva mines the Bakouma uranium deposit in the
CAR's south - France's biggest commercial interest in its former colony.
The rebel advance has highlighted the instability of a country that has
remained poor since independence from Paris in 1960 despite rich deposits of
uranium, gold and diamonds. Average income is barely over $2 a day.
Bozize on Thursday appealed for French and U.S. military support to stop the
SELEKA rebel coalition, which has promised to overthrow him unless he
implements a previous peace deal in full.
He told a crowd of anti-rebel protesters in the riverside capital that he
had asked Paris and Washington to help move the rebels away from the capital
to clear the way for peace talks which regional leaders say could be held
soon in Libreville, Gabon.
"We are asking our cousins the French and the United States, which are major
powers, to help us push back the rebels to their initial positions in a way
that will permit talks in Libreville to resolve this crisis," Bozize said.
France has 250 soldiers in its landlocked former colony as part of a
peacekeeping mission and Paris in the past has ousted or propped up
governments - including by using air strikes to defend Bozize against rebels
in 2006.
But French President Francois Hollande poured cold water on the latest
request for help.
"If we have a presence, it's not to protect a regime, it's to protect our
nationals and our interests and in no way to intervene in the internal
business of a country, in this case the Central African Republic," Hollande
said on the sidelines of a visit to a wholesale food market outside Paris.
"Those days are over," he said.
Some 1,200 French nationals live in the CAR, mostly in the capital,
according to the French Foreign Ministry, where they typically work for
mining firms or aid groups.
CEASEFIRE TALKS
Officials from around central Africa are due to meet in Bangui later on
Thursday to open initial talks with the government and rebels.
A rebel spokesman said fighters had temporarily halted their advance to
allow dialogue.
"We will not enter Bangui," Colonel Djouma Narkoyo, the rebel spokesman,
told Reuters by telephone.
Previous rebel promises to stop advancing have been broken, and a diplomatic
source said rebels had taken up positions around Bangui on Thursday,
effectively surrounding it.
The atmosphere remained tense in Bangui the day after anti-rebel protests
broke out, and residents were stocking up on food and water.
Government soldiers deployed at strategic sites and French troops reinforced
security at the French embassy after protesters threw rocks at the building
on Wednesday.
In Paris, the French Foreign Ministry said protecting foreigners and
embassies was the responsibility of the CAR authorities.
"This message will once again be stressed to the CAR's charge d'affaires in
Paris, who has been summoned this afternoon," a ministry spokesman said.
He also said France condemned the rebels for pursuing hostilities and urged
all sides to commit to talks.
Bozize came to power in a 2003 rebellion that overthrew President Ange-Felix
Patasse.
However, France is increasingly reluctant to directly intervene in conflicts
in its former colonies. Since coming to power in May, Hollande has promised
to end its shadowy relations with former colonies and put ties on a
healthier footing.
A military source and an aid worker said the rebels had got as far as
Damara, 75 km (47 miles) from Bangui, by late afternoon on Wednesday, having
skirted Sibut, where some 150 Chadian soldiers had earlier been deployed to
try and block a push south by a rebel coalition.
With a government that holds little sway outside the capital, some parts of
the country have long endured the consequences of conflicts in troubled
neighbors Chad, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of
<
http://www.reuters.com/places/congo> Congo spilling over.
The Central African Republic is one of a number of nations in the region
where U.S. Special Forces are helping local forces try to track down the
Lords Resistance Army, a rebel group responsible for killing thousands of
civilians across four African nations.
(Additional reporting by Leigh Thomas; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing
by Andrew Osborn)
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Received on Thu Dec 27 2012 - 16:07:07 EST
