The capital of the Central African Republic (CAR) remained tense on Tuesday on the fifth day of clashes between government forces and insurgents trying to oust President Ange Felix Patasse.
The country’s former army chief, General Francois Bozize, who claims his supporters are behind the unrest, returned to France early Tuesday, the French foreign ministry said.
He travelled there from Chad, whose government issued a statement denying it was involved in any way in the uprising in neighbouring CAR.
Bozize supporters said late on Tuesday they wanted to restore the authority of the state. “There is no war in the Central African Republic, there’s nothing,” said one source close to Bozize contacted by telephone
from Libreville, capital of Gabon. “We only want to restore the authority of the state.”
The source said Bozize’s backers were not after Patasse but wanted to make the capital safe “and keep the number of casualties as low as possible”.
“Nothing exists in the Central African Republic anymore that’s why we are rebuilding our institutions,” the source added. After heavy fighting on Monday, sources said the insurgents had advanced overnight towards the radio and television stations, both near Patasse’s presidential palace.
Other witnesses reported seeing troops from CAR’s southern neighbour, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) crossing into Bangui, which lies across the border from the DRC town of Zongo. The troops from DRC, which Bangui residents insist are from the
rebel Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC) headed by Jean-Pierre Bemba, were in CAR to back government forces, just as they had after an attempt to oust Patasse in May 2001.
The MLC has denied any involvement in the recent unrest in CAR. Meanwhile, Chad’s Communication Minister Moctar Wawa Dahab said that “General Bozize has left for Paris with France’s accord.”
The French foreign ministry confirmed on Tuesday that Bozize had arrived back in France. Diplomats in CAR had said Bozize had flown back to the Chadian capital Ndjamena from exile in France on Sunday, using a false
passport.
The Chadian government on Tuesday denied that it was involved in the CAR unrest.
“The government denounces and rejects the untrue accusations which aim to implicate Chad in the tragic events the Central African people are having to endure,” Ndjamena said in a statement.
The statement expressed the government’s “extreme concern over the violent clashes between brothers in Bangui.” It reiterated the government’s willingness to cooperate in implementing the provisions of an accord brokered in the Gabonese capital Libreville early this month by the Central African Economic
and Monetary Community (CEMAC), aimed at defusing tensions between Chad and CAR.
The tensions erupted last November when Bozize sought exile in Chad after an alleged attempt to oust Patasse. The two neighbours have since traded accusations of military incursions and acts of extortion against civilians. Clashes at the border on August 6 claimed 22 lives.
CAR government forces had tried in November last year to arrest Bozize after his alleged coup attempt. But he put up armed resistance and his troops held off Patasse’s forces, giving the sacked army chief the chance to flee to Chad. From there he went into exile in France under the deal brokered by CEMAC on October 2 in Libreville.
Bangui, the capital of the impoverished former French colony, has been the epicentre of many of the coups, mutinies and forced changes of government since CAR won its independence in 1960.
In Cameroon, CAR’s western neighbour, speculation meanwhile ran rife in the media as to France’s involvement in the latest unrest.
“History will show us whether General Bozize was less of a danger to the regime of Patasse when he was nearby, in Ndjamena, than 6 000 kilometres away in his new Parisian exile,” private daily newspaper Mutations said.
The Cameroonian government on Tuesday condemned the violence in CAR, for which no official death toll has been released, but a tally compiled from press and witness reports put the number of dead at around 30.
Several witnesses in Bangui have reported that Bozize’s troops have put up fierce resistance to attempts by government forces to quash their rebellion.
“Their fire power on Monday was unlike anything Bangui has ever seen in the past, including during the coup d’etat of May 2001,” one witness said.
“In 2001, we heard mainly the sound of Kalashnikovs, but this time, we’ve heard the sound of heavy artillery,” the witness said.
“There are also ultra-light aircraft piloted by Libyans on reconnaissance missions, but which also drop bombs.”