PARIS/BANGUI: French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said yesterday that the United Nations would probably have to renew a mandate for French troops to restore order in Central African Republic when it expires in May because of continued violence there.
France deployed 1,600 troops to its former colony in December to stem violence between Christian militias and largely Muslim Seleka rebels who ousted President Francois Bozize last March.
Asked during a radio interview whether France’s UN mandate, granted on December 5, would have to be renewed, Le Drian said: “Probably.” He said that the French mission had helped ease tensions in Central African Republic, a landlocked nation of 4.5 million people, and that the security was improving day by day.
“The situation in Bangui has more or less stabilised,” Le Drian told RTL radio. “In the rest of the country it is much more complicated.” France had hoped to quickly hand sole responsibility for security to the African Union peacekeeping force MISCA, which has deployed over 5,300 troops to Central African Republic, including soldiers from Rwanda, Burundi, Chad and Cameroon.
Close to one million people, or a quarter of the population, have been displaced by clashes that began when Seleka rebels embarked on a looting and killing spree after seizing power.
Christian self-defence groups known as “anti-balaka” (anti-machete) took up arms against them. The United Nations estimates that more than 2,000 people have been killed in the violence.
AFP
