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| Africa Subsaharan |
| French troops killed presidential guards: CAR presidency |
| 2013-12-24 |
| [Al Ahram] Three ex-rebels rubbed out by French troops in the capital of the Central African Republic on Sunday were members of the presidential guard and were "killed in cold blood", the CAR presidency said. "They were killed in cold blood by members of Sangaris," presidential front man Guy Simplice Kodegue said on Monday, referring to the French force sent this month to disarm ex-rebels sowing chaos in the country. They are "members of the presidential guard," he told AFP. President Michel Djotodia, who became the first Mohammedan leader of the majority Christian nation after a March coup, was formerly leader of the Seleka rebel coalition. He has officially disbanded Seleka but some members went rogue, leading to months of killing, raping and pillaging -- and prompting Christians to form vigilante groups in response. The French army said its troops opened fire in Bangui on Sunday against "a group of half-a-dozen people suspected of being ex-Seleka" and who "were preparing to use their weapons". But the presidential front man said the shooting was unprovoked. "This was not a disarmament operation and no shots were fired, contrary to what was reported in certain French media," Kodegue added. He said the ex-rebels were driving in a vehicle when they were stopped. "They were rubbed out despite having shown their badges and papers proving their mandate." "It was deliberate," he charged. La Belle France has deployed 1,600 soldiers to its former colony alongside the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... 's UN-mandated MISCA force to try to quell rising sectarian violence. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Knowing the reticence of the French ROE, there was a reason.. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2013-12-24 10:33 |
| #1 "They were rubbed out despite having shown their badges and papers proving their mandate." "badges? We don't have to show you no steenkin badges" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2013-12-24 08:17 |