Aid agency assists victims of October 2002 crisis

A Canadian humanitarian agency, Oxfam Quebec, distributed last Thursday household commodities to 300 Muslim women, victims of the crisis which followed the 25 October 2002 unsuccessful coup attempt by Central African Republic (CAR) President Francois Bozize. The chairwoman of the CAR Muslim Women's Association, Hadja Sarah Nimaga, told IRIN on Sunday that each woman had received a mat, a basin, a cooking pot, a paraffin lamp, bowls, and children's clothes. The 300 recipients are among 1,600 Muslim women displaced during the October crisis. Nimaga said 150 of them were raped and 40 were made widows. "We are still looking for kind-hearted organsiations to help the remaining 1,300," she said, adding that funds may help the women to start up small businesses and become self-sufficient. Muslim women, mainly of Chadian origin, were targeted during October 2002 by the forces of Chadian rebel Abdoulaye Miskine, who was fighting on behalf of the former CAR president Ange-Felix Patasse. Bozize declared himself president after ousting Patasse in a coup on 15 March 2003.