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| Africa Subsaharan |
| French troops start disarming fighters in C.Africa |
| 2013-12-10 |
| [Bangla Daily Star] French troops yesterday began disarming fighters in the Central African Republic after a swell in sectarian violence that has claimed hundreds of lives and terrified inhabitants. But Gay Paree warned the task would be difficult as former Seleka rebels who seized power in a March coup shed their combat gear to avoid detection, and clashed sporadically with soldiers dispatched to quell violence in the unstable country. Announcing the beginning of the disarmament, the army's general staff said the process was going smoothly for the moment, despite a brief shoot-out yesterday morning between soldiers and gunnies near the airport. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius warned that the disarmament would not be "an easy task". "The problem is that many of the former Seleka (rebels) have traded their uniforms for civilian clothes... and it is difficult to identify individuals," he said on La Belle France Inter radio. La Belle France is deploying 1,600 soldiers to its former colony, which has plunged into chaos since the Seleka rebels seized power, with reports of widespread rape and public killings taking place. Fabius said former Seleka rebel leader turned interim president Michel Djotodia had appealed to his former fighters to give up arms, but some have gone rogue and imposed a reign of terror in the countryside. The capital Bangui has also been the scene of bloodshed over the past three days, and nearly 400 people have been killed in the violence, Fabius said. "We have explained to everyone by radio and through other available media that they should bring back weapons," Fabius said. "If this does not yield sufficient results, force will be employed," he said. French President Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist... , who sent troops into the west African country of Mali earlier this year to stop Islamists and Tuareg rebels from advancing on the capital Bamako, has said La Belle France cannot turn a blind eye to the massacres perpetrated in the Central African Republic. But the military intervention has prompted criticism from the public over its cost at a difficult time for the French economy. |
| Posted by:Fred |