Tag Archives: Central African Republic

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C. African Republic leader says security improving

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The transitional leader of Central African Republic says the security situation is improving in his coup-plagued country, despite reports to the contrary from aid groups.

During a visit to Burkina Faso on Monday, Michel Djotodia said the biggest security threat came from the Lord’s Resistance Army, a notorious rebel group led by Joseph Kony that has operated in the country for years.

Djotodia became interim leader in March after his Seleka rebel coalition deposed former President Francois Bozize.

Human Rights Watch has accused Seleka of destroying dozens of villages since February, and aid groups have accused the international community of ignoring the humanitarian crisis in the nation of 4.6 million.

Djotodia made no mention of Seleka abuses but said peace had been restored to the capital, Bangui.

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C. African Republic town roiled by rebellion

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The gunfire starts here as soon as the sun rises, echoing across the town as women make their way to the well and the fortunate few children who still attend school head to class on rutted red paths lined by banana trees.

One group of rebels is nestled in the forest on the outskirts of town; their longtime enemies are positioned within walking distance on the other. Sometimes they shoot simply to announce their presence to the other.

Mostly, though, they terrify townspeople who already have endured years of upheaval and rebellion, and who are now confronting an increasingly complex and toxic array of armed fighters.

“Be brave! Be brave!” children aged 8 and 9 shout to reassure each other as the gunfire crackles in this town fatigued by the daily threat of stray bullets.

The newest rebellion to roil Central African Republic is estimated to have forced some 173,000 people from their homes since December across the already deeply impoverished country in the heart of Africa.

It also has put a country that is bordered by some of Africa‘s most troubled nations firmly in the hands of rebels who critics say are more consumed with controlling the country’s natural resources than bringing development and prosperity.

Most residents of Ndele fled into the surrounding countryside when rebels took the northern town of 13,000 in the far north in their first power grab before making their way south to Bangui, the capital, by March.

Each day brings the threat of new uncertainty in Ndele as young fighters in camouflage and turbans continue to arrive in town. Every one has a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

The sweet scent of mangoes ripening on the ground mixes with the smoke from freshly fired weapons.

“Each day there is more gunfire and the government has not addressed the problem,” says Jean-Jacques Lundi, a father of seven who repairs those abandoned motorcycles that haven’t been commandeered by rebel groups. “Until they disarm, life cannot return to normal.”

In announcing its formation in December, the rebel alliance known as Seleka said it wanted to redress decades of neglect by the federal government, particularly by longtime President Francois Bozize.

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Tanzanians see official hand in elephant poaching

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Pratik Patel gazed glumly as the herder’s scrawny brown dogs moved between piles of bones to eat the rotting elephant flesh. He pointed to the nearby road and wondered aloud: How could poachers kill an elephant just 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Tanzania‘s main safari highway?

Conservationists have long warned of the existential danger that poachers pose to Africa‘s elephants. And it’s in Tanzania, home of the Serengeti game reserve and one of the world’s two largest elephant populations, that the scale of the killings and the involvement of government employees may be the most chilling.

The three elephant corpses seen by an Associated Press reporter eight weeks ago lay in a game park just a few miles from a busy junction outside Arusha, a city of 500,000 people.

“Twenty-four elephants were shot within 10 square miles over the last three months. Thirty miles from here there are another 26 carcasses,” said Patel, a safari tour operator trying to raise the alarm about the country’s dying elephants. “And this is just a teaser. If we go to southern Tanzania I can show you 70 carcasses in one day,” he said, referring to the Selous, the world’s largest game reserve.

The man tasked with saving Tanzania‘s elephants is Khamis Suedi Kagasheki, minister for natural resources and tourism. Patel believes Kagasheki, a former intelligence officer, is trying hard to beat the poachers, but is up against a government cabal unwilling to give up illegal profits.

Much of the demand for ivory is in Asia, especially China, luring poachers across Africa to slay the giants and cut out their tusks for rewards far beyond the daily wage. According to CITES, the international body that monitors endangered species, the illegal ivory trade has more than doubled since 2007.

Every week brings new reports of elephant deaths and the government workers alleged to have killed them — soldiers, game wardens, police, customs officials, all complicit in the killings of the top tourism treasure for this poor East African nation of 50 million people.

Botswana, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo and Kenya are also suffering from elephant poaching. But Iain Douglas-Hamilton, the founder of the London-based nonprofit Save The Elephants, says he is most worried about Tanzania‘s because of its huge population — somewhere between 40,000 and 70,000.

Poaching here “is far bigger than is happening anywhere else

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/G-KIuua16Ro/

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Child soldiers patrol C. African Republic capital

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As fighters in fatigues lounge in the shade of the rebel camp in the capital of Central African Republic, a boy jumps up to greet visitors with a wide toothy grin. He says he is 14 and joined the rebels three months ago.

It is the wrong thing to say. A female commander in uniform warns him: “We’ll kill you if you talk to them.”

Her boss, armed with a Kalashnikov rifle, gets up from his plastic chair, stares at the boy who had been playing in the grass moments before and declares: “There are no children here.”

Despite the rebel’s denial, the United Nations children’s agency warns that it has “clear evidence of the continuing recruitment and use of children by armed groups” in Central African Republic.

And an Associated Press reporter saw dozens of youths among the ranks of the Seleka fighters in the capital, Bangui, more than three weeks after the insurgents caused the president to flee the country.

They were riding in pickup trucks with other rebels and in some cases on foot patrol, always closely supervised by older, heavily armed fighters.

Child soldiers were even used in some of the heaviest fighting in the battle for Bangui. They directly engaged troops from South Africa in and around the capital from March 22-24, according to South African soldiers who survived the fighting that left 13 of their comrades dead.

“It was only after the firing had stopped that we saw we had killed kids. We did not come here for this . to kill kids,” one paratrooper later told the Sunday Times newspaper in South Africa.

“It makes you sick. They were crying calling for help . calling for (their) moms.”

South African Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said the soldiers from her country had no choice but to shoot back at the children who were firing at them.

“If our soldiers were attacked by children they were correct to defend themselves,” she said, according to the South African Press Association. “If a child shoots at you, are you going to … blow kisses?”

Those who recruit children under the age of 15 to

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/M__-xEUT9bk/

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C. African Republic rebels refuge at swank hotel

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Rebel fighters in Central African Republic seized the presidential palace when they overtook the capital in March, though when it came to setting up shop they set their sights a bit loftier: the city’s sole luxury hotel.

With no advance reservation, rebels armed with rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikov rifles have turned the five-star Ledger Plaza Bangui into the temporary seat of government. And rebel leader Michel Djotodia is giving new meaning to the term presidential suite: His luxury villa behind the drained swimming pool has a listed rate of about $3,850 a night.

Here, the heavily armed rebels stand guard inside a thatched hut pool bar, and those fresh from the battlefield limp in stolen military fatigues past businessmen in traditional embroidered robes and diplomats who come to meet with the man who now rules mineral-rich Central African Republic.

There’s the fever of an inauguration weekend in Washington — only with truckloads full of turbaned rebel forces in the parking lot donning ammunition belts.

“They came in from the villages and they are really excited about being in the big city and seeing what they can collect and capture and loot,” one international aid worker said.

It’s a rare uptick in business for the posh hotel that opened in September, just months before the volatile capital descended into chaos.

Before the rebels took over the city, the Ledger was most famous for being the place where ex-President Francois Bozize‘s son ran up a $15,000 bill. Bozize had his son arrested over the unpaid hotel bill.

The ex-president went into exile March 24, after the rebels breached the capital and as fierce fighting across Bangui left an untold number of civilians dead.

The hotel is now home to the top brass who sleep in rooms where executive suites start at $675 a night. The guests, from the rebel alliance known as Seleka, arrived in the days of the invasion and it’s not clear how long they’ll be staying, said the hotel’s general manager Steven Hameeuw.

The exact financial arrangements between the hotel and its rebel guests are also unclear, and Hameeuw declined to comment. But some of those in camouflage can be seen adding lattes and beers to their room tabs.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/VNb1y618w3I/

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UN: Rape, violence raging in C. African Republic

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The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights says the security situation in Central African Republic is deteriorating three weeks after the government was overthrown.

Navi Pillay on Tuesday expressed concern about “a wide range of alleged grave violations” including rape, torture, kidnappings and targeted killings.

Pillay said at least 119 people have been killed since President Francois Bozize was ousted from power on March 24 by rebels from an alliance known as Seleka.

The U.N. also has heard of at least 19 cases of sexual violence in Berberati, and several other reported attacks in the capital of Bangui.

Rebel leader Michel Djotodia is now president of a transitional council that plans for elections within 18 months, though critics say his government lacks control over its fighters in the streets.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/G7wKf3JA-vc/

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Red Cross: 17 dead in C. African Republic violence

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Local Red Cross officials in the capital of Central African Republic say at least 17 people are dead after fighting between rebels and residents.

The violence comes three weeks after fighters from the rebel alliance known as Seleka invaded the capital and overthrew President Francois Bozize.

Bozize, who had ruled for a decade, had himself come to power through a rebellion.

Residents of Bangui said they awoke Sunday to heavy gunfire rattling across the capital.

The weekend fighting left at least 10 people dead in the Poukandja neighborhood, while another seven bodies were found elsewhere.

The country’s new leader Michel Djotodia has begun the process of putting together a new government, though critics say he lacks control over the rebels in the streets who are accused of looting and violence.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/T6gxFKmS4ww/

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Central African Republic council elects president

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Central African Republic rebel leader Michel Djotodia has been elected president by the National Transitional Council.

Djotodia was the only candidate and was elected unanimously Saturday by the 105 members of the National Transitional Council in a ceremony that was attended by political leaders, the press and representatives of international organizations accredited in Central African Republic.

Djotodia led the Seleka rebels who overthrew President Francois Bozize three weeks ago. Djotodia has 18 months to set up elections to select a new leader, according to guidelines set by neighboring countries in the Economic Community of Central African States.

Leaders of the neighboring countries are expected to attend a summit on April 15, 2013 in N’Djamena, Chad, to consider the situation in Central African Republic.

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Articles of Interest

Darfur Fighting: 50,000 Sudanese Flee Into Chad Following New Conflict

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By The Huffington Post News Editors

N’DJAMENA, April 12 (Reuters) – Some 50,000 Sudanese have fled into southeastern Chad in the past week following fresh tribal conflict in the restive Darfur region, U.N. and Chadian officials said on Friday.
Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, said the fighting had spread as each side received reinforcements from tribal allies and had become more violent, with entire villages being razed.
A total of 74,000 refugees had fled to Chad in the past two months, she said.
“People are arriving wounded and telling us their houses are destroyed and their villages completely burned down, with many people killed,” she told a news conference in Geneva.
The refugees have fled to an arid area along the Chad, Sudan and Central African Republic border.
“The area they are arriving in is very remote. They left with nothing: there is no water, no food. They are sleeping under trees,” Fleming said, adding there was a risk of disease.
General Moussa Haroun Tirgo, the governor of the Sila region of southeastern Chad where the refugees have fled, told Reuters that about 52 wounded had arrived since Thursday.
“The situation is worrying given that the zone does not have enough medical infrastructure,” Tirgo said. “We’re evaluating the needs with the help of NGOs but the situation is very serious.”
Conflict has ravaged Sudan‘s western Darfur region since 2003 when mainly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the Arab-led government, accusing it of politically and economically marginalising the region.
Violence has subsided from its peak in 2003 and 2004, but a surge has forced more than 130,000 people to flee their homes this year, according to the United Nations. (Reporting by Madjiasra Nako in N’djamena and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Jon Hemming)

Read More…
More on Sudan

From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/12/darfur-fighting_n_3068644.html

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2,000 protest in C. African Republic capital

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About 2,000 people have taken to the streets of Central African Republic‘s capital after rebel fighters fatally shot a motorcyclist.

Thursday’s demonstration highlights the growing resentment toward pillaging that is being blamed on members of the Seleka group that overthrew the president several weeks ago.

The march came after witnesses said Seleka fighters killed a man and stole his motorcycle.

Seleka rebels have been accused of stealing numerous vehicles in Bangui, not only from citizens but also from international aid organizations working in the deeply impoverished country.

Longtime President Francois Bozize fled into exile on March 24 after the rebel fighters invaded the capital.

Thousands of armed fighters now patrol the city in pickup trucks emblazoned with the Seleka name on them.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/sUCzgpa0v-M/

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Expert: Warlord Kony under pressure to free women

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The fugitive African warlord Joseph Kony is jettisoning women and children in a possible desperate bid to keep his weakened group lean and mobile, an expert said Friday, after three women freed by the Lord’s Resistance Army arrived home in Uganda after spending years in the bush.

Kasper Agger of the U.S.-based Kony watchdog group Enough Project said the release late last month of 28 LRA abductees by LRA fighters in Congo also suggests the group is undergoing turmoil amid a manhunt — supported by U.S. military advisers — for its leaders.

“It could be an indication that they are trying to become more mobile,” Agger said of the LRA, a small but active group of fighters whose rebellion originated in Uganda in the 1980s. “We have seen this before but not on this scale.”

Kony, a suspected war criminal who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, possibly is also freeing women to punish commanders of questionable loyalty, Agger said. The LRA rarely releases women, who are often captured as young girls who then become sex slaves for commanders and some fighters. Many women have raised families in captivity, and Kony himself is said to have taken scores of women and sired many children.

In the Ugandan capital, Kampala, three of the 28 women and children freed by the LRA in Congo said Friday they believed Kony gave the order for their release but had no idea why. One of them was pregnant with an LRA fighter’s child, said Grace Ocitti, a Ugandan official who was debriefing the women.

This week the U.S. announced a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the elusive Kony, who last year became the subject a wildly popular online video that highlighted his crimes, including the use of child soldiers.

Ugandan Brig. Dick Olum, the commander of African Union troops tasked with eliminating the LRA, said Friday that Kony was believed to be constantly crossing from Central African Republic to Congo and back. Olum said the decision to free some abductees was not an act of charity and that it was likely taken by a junior LRA commander under pressure to free a wife or girlfriend about to be killed in firefights.

“The LRA, when they know that they are going to lose their families, that’s what they do,” he said.

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C. African Republic leader OKs faster elections

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A spokesman for Central African Republic‘s new government says the country’s self-declared president is now willing to speed up the process of holding new elections.

Government spokesman Crepin Mboli-Goumba said Thursday that leader Michel Djotodia had accepted recommendations made by neighboring countries earlier this week.

Those suggestions include setting up an interim council that will lead the country though a political transition to democracy. Mboli-Goumba says a president will be chosen to lead that body soon.

Djotodia’s rebel fighters seized control of the capital on March 24, overthrowing President Francois Bozize who had himself taken power after a rebellion a decade ago.

The African Union and the United States have condemned the action.

Thursday’s commitment to a quicker political transition comes after Djotodia met with foreign ministers from neighboring countries.

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US to seek ways to continue helping hunt for Kony

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A U.S. official says the United States is looking for ways to ensure the hunt for warlord Joseph Kony in Central African Republic continues despite a change in leadership in the country.

The U.S. on Wednesday announced a new $5 million reward for the arrest of Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a small but brutal band of fighters who abduct children as fighters and sexual slaves.

U.S. special forces are helping as advisers in the hunt for Kony. But after rebels deposed the Central African Republic‘s president earlier this month, the search there has been suspended.

State Department official Stephen J. Rapp, said Thursday that the rebels want to see Kony expelled from their country, opening the potential for support for the U.S. and African operation there.

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South African military to withdraw troops in CAR

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South Africa‘s military says it will withdraw its troops from Central African Republic, where 13 South African soldiers died in a battle with rebels in March.

Brig. Gen. Xolani Mabanga, a military spokesman, said Thursday that the troops will pull out in line with a decision by South Africa‘s political leadership. He declined to say how many South African soldiers remain in Central African Republic and did not give a departure date.

Meanwhile, a South African parliamentary committee was debating the military mission in Central African Republic amid questions about its role and the constitutional legality of the deployment.

Last month, about 200 South African soldiers fought a much larger group of rebels as they swept into the capital of Bangui and overthrew the president, Francois Bozize.

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Officials: US to offer $5 million bounty on Kony

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U.S. officials say the Obama administration will offer up to $5 million in rewards for information leading to the capture of Lord’s Resistance Army chief Joseph Kony, two of his top aides and a Rwandan rebel leader suspected of crimes against humanity.

The State Department will announce the bounties on Wednesday, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly preview the move. The money is being offered under a provision in the War Crimes Rewards Program authored by Secretary of State John Kerry when he was a senator.

Kony is accused of ordering widespread atrocities during a brutal campaign for power that originated in Uganda in the 1980s. He is now believed to be hiding in the Central African Republic.

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Uganda Stops Looking for Kony

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By Ruth Brown Jason Russell’s naked meltdown didn’t stop the hunt for Joseph Kony, but a Central African coup has—at least temporarily. Uganda has suspended its 3,000-troop-strong search for Africa‘s most wanted warlord following the recent rebel takeover of Central African Republic, Reuters reports. “These rebels have been openly hostile to… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home

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African forces suspend hunt for warlord Kony

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Uganda‘s top military official says African Union troops have suspended the hunt for the fugitive warlord Joseph Kony in Central African Republic because the new government there is not cooperating with the mission.

Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, the Ugandan army chief, said Wednesday that Uganda-led African forces in Central African Republic stopped operations against Kony until their status is clarified by the African Union.

About 3,000 African troops under the AU‘s mandate are currently deployed against Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army in Central African Republic, where rebels deposed a president last month and announced a new government. The African forces are supported by about 100 U.S. military advisers.

Nyakairima said Ugandan troops would stay in Central African Republic until the AU itself asks them to leave.

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New Central African Republic gov't faces criticism

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An alliance of opposition parties says it’s withdrawing from the new government created only days ago by self-appointed President Michel Djotodia.

Djotodia, whose rebel fighters overthrew the country’s president of a decade about a week ago, had announced a new list of government ministers late Sunday.

However, the opposition parties say they were disappointed to learn about the appointments from state radio like everyone else.

Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye, a longtime opposition leader, said Tuesday that the other opposition members couldn’t be forced to participate.

Tiangaye is leading a delegation from Central African Republic to neighboring Chad on Wednesday, where regional leaders are due to discuss the country’s ongoing political crisis.

Central African Republic‘s new president says he plans to rule until elections in 2016.

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SAfrica head says he sent troops to CAR for peace

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President Jacob Zuma says he sent South African troops to Central African Republic to promote peace on the continent and denies allegations they were deployed to protect business interests of his African National Congress.

Zuma on Tuesday told a memorial service for 13 South African troops killed in a battle against the rebels who ousted Central African Republic‘s president that the soldiers died defending South Africa‘s commitment to the renewal of the African continent.

Critics have asked why the soldiers died defending a despotic coup leader and suggested the real aim of the mission was to protect the interests of a company connected to the ANC.

Zuma reiterated that troops were sent to train the CAR army, and 200 troops sent in January had a mission to protect the trainers.

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C. African Republic coup leader adds to his roles

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The coup leader in Central African Republic who has declared himself president now says he’ll also serve as the country’s defense minister.

The announcement came in a decree read on state radio Sunday that also outlined other roles within the country’s new unity government.

Self-declared President Michel Djotodia has said he intends to stay on as president until the next elections, which are not due until 2016.

His rebel alliance known as Seleka also was awarded several other essential posts in the government, including the minister of mines and the minister in charge of security and public order.

Djotodia’s rebels overthrew President Francois Bozize on March 23 after he had spent a decade in power. He and his family fled to neighboring Cameroon as thousands of rebels invaded the capital.

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