Bangui, Tripoli resume cooperation

The Central African Republic (CAR) and Libya have decided to resume diplomatic ties after four months of uncertainty, a government official told IRIN on Tuesday. The secretary of state for foreign affairs, Charles Wenezoui, said CAR leader Francois Bozize and Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi "resolved to build their cooperation on a new basis" when they met on Monday in N'djamena, the capital of Chad. He said the areas of cooperation were yet to be determined. Al-Qadhafi promised to support Bozize, he added. Wenezoui had accompanied Bozize in his trip to Chad where he held one hour of talks with the Libyan head of state. Libya previously had military and defence accords with the CAR, within the framework of the Community of Sahelo-Saharan States, known as CEN-SAD. After a May 2001 coup attempt by former President Andre Kolingba, the CEN-SAD sent 200 troops to Bangui, the CAR capital, most of whom were from Libya. Their mission was to protect then President Ange-Felix Patasse, whom Bozize ousted in a coup on 15 March 2003. In November 2001, when Bozize first rebelled, and in October 2002, when he invaded Bangui's northern suburbs, Libyan troops and warplanes contributed to the removal of Bozize's rebels out of the city. The CEN-SAD troops were replaced in December 2002 by a peacekeeping force of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States. In its crusade against corruption, Bozize's administration recently seized the buildings that Patasse's government had yielded to Libya in return for loans.