THURSDAY, 4.30PM
HEAVY weapons fire was reported in the Central African Republic capital of Bangui on Thursday, in spite of a pledge by mutinous soldiers to surrender their weapons.
In a press release on Wednesday, the mutineers had said they would surrender their heavy weapons to an international peacekeeping force and try to settle their differences with the government through negotiations. Official sources said the soldiers had started gathering their heavy artillery at the Bangui barracks where they are holed up, apparently in preparation for a hand-over.
Former Malian head of state General Toumani Toure, who had mediated a now-broken ceasefire in the Central African Republic, arrived in Bangui on Wednesday. He accused both the government and the mutinous soldiers of violating the truce signed in January, and expressed frustration at having to repeatedly return to Bangui.
The Red Cross has estimated that more than 100 people were killed in the latest round of fighting, which broke out last Friday when foreign troops tried to arrest local soldiers suspected of stealing a car.
Central African soldiers have staged three major rebellions since May 1996 against President Ange-Felix Patasse, whose election in 1993 ended more than a decade of army rule.