Bangui mayor is the new president of the war-torn Central African Republic
22 Jan 2014 6:26 AM IST
The change in leadership and deepening international involvement in the former French colony follow waves of killing and looting that have forced 1 million people - nearly a quarter of the population - to flee.
The landlocked nation, impoverished for all its mineral reserves, descended into chaos when mainly Muslim rebels, known as Seleka, seized power in March.
Abuses by Seleka fighters triggered revenge attacks by Christian militia known as ‘anti-balaka’, fuelling unprecedented violence between communities that had lived side-by-side.
‘I am the president of all Central Africans, without exception,’ said Mayor Catherine Samba-Panza, succeeding Seleka leader Michel Djotodia who stepped down as interim president this month under international pressure over his failure to end the bloodshed.
‘I appeal to my anti-balaka and Seleka children to listen to me and lay down your weapons,’ said the Chadian-born politician, who moved to Central African Republic when she was 18.
A senior UN official warned last week of the possibility of genocide in the nation that borders six other countries in the heart of Africa, including strife-hit South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo.
But the appointment of a candidate with no links to either camp in the fighting raised hopes of an end to the slaughter.
The landlocked nation, impoverished for all its mineral reserves, descended into chaos when mainly Muslim rebels, known as Seleka, seized power in March.
Abuses by Seleka fighters triggered revenge attacks by Christian militia known as ‘anti-balaka’, fuelling unprecedented violence between communities that had lived side-by-side.
‘I am the president of all Central Africans, without exception,’ said Mayor Catherine Samba-Panza, succeeding Seleka leader Michel Djotodia who stepped down as interim president this month under international pressure over his failure to end the bloodshed.
‘I appeal to my anti-balaka and Seleka children to listen to me and lay down your weapons,’ said the Chadian-born politician, who moved to Central African Republic when she was 18.
A senior UN official warned last week of the possibility of genocide in the nation that borders six other countries in the heart of Africa, including strife-hit South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo.
But the appointment of a candidate with no links to either camp in the fighting raised hopes of an end to the slaughter.
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