CEMAC Equatorial Guinea contingent leaves

The 31-member Equatorial Guinea contingent of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States (CEMAC) peacekeeping force left the Central African Republic (CAR) on Wednesday. The spokesman for the CEMAC force, Col Augustin Bibaye, told IRIN on Thursday that the contingent would not be replaced. "Given the current situation [in the CAR], we think that there is no risk of destabilisation of the country," Fernando Vengou, the Equatorial Guinea government spokesman, said on Thursday on Africa No.1, a privately owned Gabonese broadcaster. Vengou said the CAR administration of Francois Bozize, a former army chief of staff who took power in a coup on 15 March, had not officially asked for the contingent to remain in the CAR capital, Bangui. At the same time, 61 of 126 Republic of Congo (ROC) CEMAC troops left for Brazzaville on Tuesday. However, Bibaye told IRIN that other soldiers from the ROC would replace them “very soon”. Bibaye said that all the troop-contributing countries to the peacekeeping force were expected to rotate their contingents by 10 April. Gabon has also contributed 146 soldiers to the force. Mali and Cameroon have yet to send theirs. On 19 March, Chad sent 300 soldiers to Bangui to help restore calm following Bozize's coup. The integration of the Chadian troops into CEMAC will be decided at the community’s next regional summit, whose date is yet to be fixed. The last summit in Brazzaville on 21 March decided to keep the CEMAC force in the CAR, and to revise its mandate and reinforce its capacities. The force's initial mission was to protect the now-ousted President Ange-Felix Patasse, to monitor the securing of the CAR-Chad border and to restructure the CAR army.