Gunfire continuing after coup attempt

Gunfire was still heard in parts of the Central African Republic (CAR), Bangui, on Tuesday after an attempted coup was apparently put down by the military on Monday. An NGO source in the city told IRIN it was not clear whether the government had control of the situation, despite a statement by a spokesman for President Ange-Felix Patasse on Tuesday claiming that “the situation right now is perfectly under the control of the armed forces, the security agencies and the presidential guard”. The source said automatic and heavy weapons fire was heard early on Tuesday morning in the neighbourhood of the presidential residence, and sporadic gunfire was heard throughout the city. Residents who fled the southern districts of Bangui told AFP that government troops had stormed into the area in search of retreating mutinous soldiers who on Monday attacked the presidential residence in what the government described as a failed coup attempt. Residents also said that “armed rebel soldiers” were walking the streets of Bangui’s southern neighbourhoods, an opposition stronghold. CAR President Ange-Felix Patasse has declared a countrywide curfew between 6 pm and 6 am local time. At least 12 people have been reported dead, including seven members of the presidential guard, killed defending Patasse, presidential spokesman Prosper Ndouba told news organisations. Patasse remained inside his villa, unharmed. The head of the Gendarmerie, General Francois Ndjadder, received serious gunshot wounds in the stomach and is said to be in a very critical condition, according to Radio France Internationale (RFI). Several of the attackers, and at least two civilians have also been killed, according to various reports. Most of Bangui’s residents remained off the streets on Tuesday. The national radio station, Radio Centrafrique, remained silent in Bangui as of midday Tuesday, the NGO source told IRIN, with the rebels having damaged the station’s transmitter. Three private radio stations - the UN FM radio, Ndeke Luka; the Catholic Church FM radio, Notre Dame; and the Protestant churches FM radio, la Voix de Grace - were also unheard, and none of the seven daily newspapers in Bangui published editions on Tuesday. RFI reported that the mutineers released General Guillaume Lucien Djengbot, a close aide of former president Andre Kolingba, who continues to be a fierce opponent of President Patasse and who is often accused of being behind army mutinies in 1996 and 1997. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed “dismay” over the situation, and called on all “to respect democratic institutions”. The former French colony, one of Africa’s poorest countries, has a history of military uprisings, with three major rebellions against Patasse since 1996. Patasse first won a multi-party election in 1993, defeating General Andre Kolingba and thereby ending more than a decade of military rule. He won re-election in 1999 amid opposition claims of vote fraud, with student groups consistently demanding his departure. Division in Bangui mirrors the country’s ethnic split between Patasse’s north and the south, home to Kolingba, independence president David Dacko, and the late Jean-Bedel Bokassa, who crowned himself emperor before being toppled in 1979.