Day five of fighting; talks continue

The situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) capital, Bangui, remained tense on Wednesday with gunfire being exchanged between rebel troops and loyalist soldiers in the north of the city as efforts to mediate a truce continued, news agencies reported.

Negotiations are being led by the Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the CAR, Lamine Cisse, with the aid of Chadian Ambassador Maitimo Njumbe. An Organisation of African Unity (OAU) mediation team led by OAU Deputy Secretary-General Mahamat Habib Doutoum was due to arrive on Wednesday, Radio Centrafrique reported.

Clashes have been largely confined to the northern part of Bangui, from which hundreds of people continue to flee south, carrying mats, food and other belongings, AP reported.

Fighting broke out early Saturday when loyalist forces tried to arrest former army chief Francois Bozize, who has sought refuge in a barracks in the far north of the capital, Reuters reported. He was dismissed on 26 Oct. after being accused of involvement in a coup plot and after weapons were found in three homes in the capital. However, he has denied involvement, saying he backed CAR President Ange-Felix Patasse during army mutinies in 1996 and 1997. Bozize had refused to submit to a summons by a judicial commission probing this year's coup attempt of 28 May, claiming he had not been given sufficient safety guarantees.

Cisse told Reuters late on Tuesday that progress was made during three hours of talks held during the day, and that he believed a negotiated settlement could still be reached. "There haven't been any full-blown confrontations yet," Cisse was quoted as saying, "and the way the negotiations are going leads one to believe we are going to be spared."

The government offered on Wednesday to guarantee Bozize's safety with the cooperation of the UN Bureau in the Central African Republic (BONUCA), AFP quoted "an authoritative source" as saying. "The government considers that the mandate issued by the enquiry commission does not mean that Gen. Bozize should be arrested," the source said, adding the offer had come from CAR Prime Minister Martin Ziguele.

Cisse has announced that Bozize was ready, as of Wednesday, to see soldiers backing him lift barricades they have set up on roads in the north of Bangui and beyond. "This is extremely important and will enable us to restore traffic towards the north of the CAR and neighbouring countries," Cisse told AFP on Tuesday. The roadblocks had stopped a regular flow of goods vehicles to Cameroon, Chad and Sudan were severely affecting the CAR's already battered economy.

The latest unrest has been blamed on troops backing Bozize's one-time deputy chief of staff, Lt-Col Georges Touaguende, who had been under house arrest since August, escaped on Sunday, but was recaptured on Monday, AFP reported.

Residents said gunfire and shelling restarted shortly after 8 am on Wednesday in the northern Boy-Rabe and Bouh districts. "Wild shooting is coming from Boy-Rabe where loyalist forces have stepped up their security presence," one witness told AFP. "People's movement has been strictly controlled since the gunfire on Tuesday."

Some 80 Libyan soldiers arrived in Bangui on Monday to protect Patasse, in addition to the approximately 100 Libyan troops who have been present since the failed May coup.

Patasse has survived army mutinies in 1996-97 as well as the May coup bid, blamed on his predecessor, Andre Kolingba, a general who lost the presidential election in 1993.