CAR rebels say president must go
2013-01-07 11:21
Bangui - Central African Republic rebels who are within
striking distance of the country's capital repeated their demand on Sunday that
any deal in peace talks due to start on Tuesday must include the departure of
President Francois Bozize.
The central African regional bloc CEEAC hopes to host the
negotiations between the rebels and Bozize in Gabon's capital Libreville in a
bid to end the month-long crisis in the mineral-rich but impoverished and
coup-prone state.
But prospects for a solution are clouded by the rebels'
insistence that the president, who came to power in a coup in 2003, must stand
down and by Bozize's flat refusal to do so.
Eric Massi, a Paris-based spoksperson for the rebels, made
the demand again on Sunday, saying the insurgents were hoping to achieve a
political solution that would restore peace but that "Bozize's departure
is non-negotiable".
He said he regretted that the CEEAC had fixed a date for the
talks without advance agreement on the agenda.
Rebels leaders on the ground in the Central African Republic
(CAR) meanwhile said that their flight to Gabon set for Sunday was postponed to
Monday.
But they insisted they would take part in the talks, which
have the support of the UN Security Council and the United States.
"We are ready. We want to leave for the
negotiations," Colonel Djouma Narkoyo told AFP by satellite telephone.
Bozize's representatives were also due in Gabon on Monday,
while the president himself plans to travel there only once the talks have
officially begun, a source close to the presidency said.
According to CAR Territorial Administration Minister Josue
Binoua, the government delegation would propose "army reform, an economic
stimulus plan and the implementation of a new electoral code" at the
talks.
- SAPA
