Central African rebels dangle truce offer at peace talks

Peace talks between rebels and Central African Republic officials got a potential boost late Thursday when the renegade fighters said they were prepared in principle to call a one-week ceasefire and dropped a demand for President Francois Bozize to step down. But the truce offer from the coalition of three rebel groups known as Seleka, or the "Alliance," came laden with demands, including the departure of South African troops and the unconditional release of political prisoners. The two sides have been meeting since Wednesday in Gabon's capital Libreville, where regional body the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) is based. ECCAS wants to mediate an end to the crisis in one of its poorest member states, where rebels took up arms in the lawless north on December 10 and swept south, seizing several towns, before stopping within striking distance of the Central African Republic's capital Bangui. Mediators hope to at least gain a ceasefire to allow displaced civilians to return to their villages. Seleka rebel spokesman Florian Ndjadder said "we are going to agree in principle to a one-week ceasefire." But he added that the fighters wanted to see if they could trust Bozize before definitively signing the truce. They also attached strings. "The mercenaries from South Africa must leave Central African territory, the political prisoners must be freed without conditions during the same period," Ndjadder said. South Africa in the last few days began sending up to a total of 400 troops to build the capacity of government forces. Rebels, who until Thursday had demanded Bozize step aside, also want a new prime minister to be nominated from the opposition. "That seems impossible," a source with the Gabon foreign ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity, earlier told AFP. Seleka on Wednesday urged Bozize to acknowledge his "military defeat", calling for him to face war crimes proceedings at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. It was not clear if Bozize was meeting or would meet with the rebels and opposition. Bozize arrived in Libreville on Thursday to join an ECCAS summit, which is also being attended by Gabonese President Ali Bongo, President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo, who is acting as a mediator in the conflict, and Chad's President Idriss Deby Itno, a close Bozize ally. Deby, the ECCAS acting head, supported the former general when he took power in a coup in Bangui in 2003, after which Bozize was twice elected to office. UN Special Representative in the CAR Margaret Vogt said achieving a ceasefire was the minimum to be hoped for from the talks. "It could help to quell the anxiety of people who are really afraid," she said. "Let the rival forces withdraw to neutral positions so that people can go home." She called a ceasefire a "very modest" goal. "Later, we can talk about the rest," she said. The rebels base their war crimes accusations on Amnesty International reports of rights violations in the CAR, blaming the president for detentions, kidnappings and summary executions. ECCAS strongly opposes the removal of heads of state and government by force of arms. In its memorandum, Seleka rebels renewed charges that the regime has failed to respect peace accords signed between the government and rebels, particularly the global peace pact reached in Libreville in 2008. These accords provided for a programme of disarmament, demobilisation and social reinsertion for former rebels, who claim Bangui has never respected these terms. Meanwhile Thursday, the French carrier Air France said it would resume service between Paris and Bangui that was suspended December 26 after the rebel coalition seized parts of the country.