Loyal troops retake Bozoum

Government troops have retaken the town of Bozoum, 384 km northwest of the Central African Republic capital, Bangui, from rebel forces general, according to Deputy Defence Minister Xavier Yangongo. "On Friday [20 December] we drove all the rebels out of Bozoum. They then retreated to their headquarters at Bossangoa [305 km north of Bangui]," he told IRIN on Monday. The town, he said, had been under rebel control for 24 hours, but he did not indicate whether one of the government's allies, the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, had taken part in the battle. No casualty figures are available yet. Bozoum is the third town - after Damara and Bossembele - government troops have retaken from the rebels loyal to Gen Francois Bozize, the renegade former chief of staff of the CAR armed forces. Local newspapers have quoted witnesses as saying that the rebels looted Bozoum, especially the Developpement rural de l'Ouham Pende, a German development project in Ouham Pende Province, whose capital is Bozoum. The rebels also reportedly seized trucks and other equipment. These new developments have taken place as the Community of Sahelo-Saharan States presidential protection force continues to pull out of the CAR to be replaced by troops of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States (CEMAC). CEMAC has already flown to Bangui 110 Gabonese soldiers, who are to be followed by contingents from Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Mali. In total the force will have a maximum of 350 men, with the mandate to protect President Ange-Felix Patasse, monitor the border between Chad and CAR, and restructure the army. After the Djiboutian contingent's departure on Thursday, the Sudanese component left the following day. Some Libyan soldiers were also reported to have left Bangui. In the meantime, Radio France International reported on Monday that Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema had received Bozize, Gabonese Foreign Minister Jean Ping, and Ali Abd al-Salam al-Turayki, the Libyan secretary for African affairs, last week in an effort to reconcile Patasse and Bozize. Elsewhere, the 12-opposition-party alliance that organised a successful mourning day last week as a sign of solidarity with the October crisis victims has launched an appeal for new action to demand the withdrawal of Libyan troops and MLC combatants. This time, the opposition is calling on the people of Bangui to drum their cooking pots every day at 18:00 for two minutes from 27 to 31 December.