Central Africa rebels ‘seize’ presidential palace
25 March 2013 7:27 AM IST
Rebels in the Central African Republic fighting to topple President Francois Bozize said on Sunday they had seized the presidential palace in an assault on the capital Bangui as gun-battles sent panicked residents fleeing.
Fighters in the Seleka rebel coalition advanced into the riverside capital on Saturday after the collapse of a two-month-old peace deal in the notoriously unstable and deeply poor former French colony, ignoring a call for talks to avoid a ‘bloodbath’.
‘We have taken the presidential palace. Bozize was not there,’ one of the rebel commanders on the ground, Colonel Djouma Narkoyo said.
He said the rebels were planning to move on to the national radio station where rebel leader Michel Djotodia planned to make an address.‘Today will be decisive,’ Narkoyo said. ‘We call on our brothers in FACA (the Central African army) to lay down their arms.’
Bozize, who himself led a coup in the landlocked country in 2003, has not been seen since his return from South Africa on Friday and there was no statements from the government Sunday about the latest developments.
Heavy gun battles erupted at about 0700 GMT, but later the shooting became more sporadic, an agency correspondent said.
‘We head gunfire everywhere in the city centre. It was chaos,’ said one witness. ‘Everyone started running in all directions.’
Narkoyo had told agencies on Saturday the rebels were ready to meet with regional African leaders on the crisis, but refused to negotiate with Bozize.
And he warned that if Seleka, a loose alliance of three rebel movements, captured Bangui, it would set up a new government.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye on Saturday called on the rebels to accept talks to ‘avoid a bloodbath’.
PRESIDENT BOZIZE FLEES SELEKA ATTACK
Central African Republic’s President Francois Bozize fled the capital early on Sunday, hours after hundreds of armed rebels threatening to overthrow him invaded the city, an adviser said. The rebel alliance, known as Seleka, reached the outskirts of Bangui late on Sunday. Heavy gunfire echoed through the city early Sunday as the fighters made their way into the heart of downtown and seized the presidential palace, though the country’s leader of a decade was not there at the time. ‘Bozize left the city this morning,’ said Maximin Olouamat, a member of Bozize's presidential majority. The adviser declined to say where the president had gone.
Fighters in the Seleka rebel coalition advanced into the riverside capital on Saturday after the collapse of a two-month-old peace deal in the notoriously unstable and deeply poor former French colony, ignoring a call for talks to avoid a ‘bloodbath’.
‘We have taken the presidential palace. Bozize was not there,’ one of the rebel commanders on the ground, Colonel Djouma Narkoyo said.
He said the rebels were planning to move on to the national radio station where rebel leader Michel Djotodia planned to make an address.‘Today will be decisive,’ Narkoyo said. ‘We call on our brothers in FACA (the Central African army) to lay down their arms.’
Bozize, who himself led a coup in the landlocked country in 2003, has not been seen since his return from South Africa on Friday and there was no statements from the government Sunday about the latest developments.
Heavy gun battles erupted at about 0700 GMT, but later the shooting became more sporadic, an agency correspondent said.
‘We head gunfire everywhere in the city centre. It was chaos,’ said one witness. ‘Everyone started running in all directions.’
Narkoyo had told agencies on Saturday the rebels were ready to meet with regional African leaders on the crisis, but refused to negotiate with Bozize.
And he warned that if Seleka, a loose alliance of three rebel movements, captured Bangui, it would set up a new government.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye on Saturday called on the rebels to accept talks to ‘avoid a bloodbath’.
PRESIDENT BOZIZE FLEES SELEKA ATTACK
Central African Republic’s President Francois Bozize fled the capital early on Sunday, hours after hundreds of armed rebels threatening to overthrow him invaded the city, an adviser said. The rebel alliance, known as Seleka, reached the outskirts of Bangui late on Sunday. Heavy gunfire echoed through the city early Sunday as the fighters made their way into the heart of downtown and seized the presidential palace, though the country’s leader of a decade was not there at the time. ‘Bozize left the city this morning,’ said Maximin Olouamat, a member of Bozize's presidential majority. The adviser declined to say where the president had gone.
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