CAR rebels say ready for talks
2012-12-20 20:26
Bangui - Rebels in Central African Republic said on Thursday
they had halted their advance towards the capital and were open to peace talks.
A rebel coalition complaining that President Francois Bozize
had failed to honour a 2007 peace deal has marched to within 400km of the
capital, prompting neighbouring Chad to dispatch soldiers to help CAR's army.
"The advance of our troops has been unilaterally
halted," the Seleka rebel alliance said in a statement sent to Reuters.
The statement, signed by Justin Mambissi Matar, secretary
general of the movement, said the push south had been put on hold after Chadian
authorities had pledged not to attack rebel positions.
It was not immediately possible to contact residents in
rebel-held areas to confirm if the advance had stopped.
The rebel Seleka alliance said it was open to peace talks
but would remain in the territory it has secured during a two-week advance,
rejecting an appeal on Wednesday from the United Nations Security Council to
withdraw from captured towns.
The alliance is made up of breakaway factions from previous
rebel groups that signed a 2007 peace deal.
Chadian support was requested by CAR earlier this week,
underscoring the fragility of the landlocked nation, roughly the size of former
colonial master France.
Since independence in 1960, the nation has endured decades
of instability caused by a mix of local rebellions, banditry, ethnic tensions
and the spill-over of conflicts in neighbouring Chad, Sudan and Democratic
Republic of Congo.
As a result, major investment in its timber, gold, uranium
and diamond deposits have been discouraged. Some of the diamond deposits are
now in rebel-held territory.
