Central Africa rebels head for peace talks

Central African Republic rebels who are within striking distance of the country's capital repeated their demand Sunday that any deal in peace talks due to start Tuesday must include the departure of President Francois Bozize. The central African regional bloc CEEAC hopes to host the negotiations between the rebels and Bozize in Gabon's capital Libreville in a bid to end the month-long crisis in the mineral-rich but impoverished and coup-prone state. But prospects for a solution are clouded by the rebels' insistence that the president, who came to power in a coup in 2003, must stand down and by Bozize's flat refusal to do so. Eric Massi, a Paris-based spokesman for the rebels, made the demand again on Sunday, saying the insurgents were hoping to achieve a political solution that would restore peace but that "Bozize's departure is non-negotiable". He said he regretted that the CEEAC had fixed a date for the talks without advance agreement on the agenda. Rebels leaders on the ground in the Central African Republic (CAR) meanwhile said that their flight to Gabon set for Sunday was postponed to Monday.But they insisted they would take part in the talks, which have the support of the UN Security Council and the United States. "We are ready. We want to leave for the negotiations," Colonel Djouma Narkoyo told AFP by satellite telephone. Bozize's representatives were also due in Gabon on Monday, while the president himself plans to travel there only once the talks have officially begun, a source close to the presidency said. According to CAR Territorial Administration Minister Josue Binoua, the government delegation would propose "army reform, an economic stimulus plan and the implementation of a new electoral code" at the talks. The Seleka rebel coalition, which says Bozize has not abided by terms of earlier peace deals, launched an offensive on December 10 in the north and easily overran an ill-equipped and poorly trained army. They marched across a large part of the former French colony, capturing key towns along the way, before halting their push within striking distance of the capital Bangui, in the southwest. The rebels at the weekend captured two more towns, just days before the Gabon talks were due to open, officials said, but there was no immediate reaction from the rebels themselves to the claim. Unrest in the landlocked equatorial country has alarmed the country's neighbours and the international community, with the UN Security Council twice calling on Seleka to halt its offensive and engage in peace talks. "The Security Council reiterated their demand that the Seleka coalition of armed groups cease all hostilities, withdraw from seized cities, and cease attempts to advance further," said a statement released by the 15-nation body on Friday. Central African nations have begun sending reinforcements to Damara, the last major town between the rebels and the capital, to bolster the army against the rebels. On Sunday, Binoua said the rebels were 12 kilometres (seven miles) from Damara in the town of Vangue and had been there for a week. "They wander around, practise firing rounds, which traumatises the residents. They're not attacking but cohabiting" with the troops, he said. The regional troops are fighting under the banner of the multinational African force FOMAC, which CEEAC launched in 2008 in a bid to stabilise the country. Northern neighbour Chad, whose President Idriss Deby is an ally of Bozize, has contributed most of the troops to the force, which is due to reach its full strength of 760 by the end of the week. South Africa has authorised the deployment of 400 soldiers to the country, President Jacob Zuma's office said Sunday. The soldiers, whose mandate will run through March 2018, would help with capacity-building of the CAR army, the office said in a statement. The violence in the country has affected more than 300,000 children, including through recruitment as child soldiers, family separation, sexual violence and forced displacement, UNICEF has said. CAR, with a population of about five million, has been notoriously unstable since its independence from France in 1960.