UN sends special envoy in effort to resolve crisis

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced on Tuesday that he would send Mali’s former head of state, General Amadou Toumani Toure, as his Special Envoy to the CAR in an effort to find a solution to the current crisis, which began with a coup attempt by a mutinous soldiers led by former President Andre Kolingba in the early hours of 28 May. Annan said Toure would “hold discussions... with a view to ending the fighting that reportedly continues in parts of Bangui...” He is due to begin his mission by the end of this week. Meanwhile, forces allied to the CAR government have been persevering with their offensive against the last bastion of the mutineers in southwestern Bangui, especially in Petevo and Bimbo districts. Despite their reportedly small numbers, the rebels are believed to be heavily armed, with many dressed in civilian clothing, rendering even more difficult the government effort to flush them out of residential areas. Reacting on Tuesday to reports of reprisals against Kolingba’s Yakoma tribe, the CAR government denied that its troops were engaged in ethnic cleansing, according to Reuters. “There has never been any question of an ethnic cleansing operation in Bangui. Only the coup leaders and their accomplices are being sought,” the government said in a statement. On Monday night, looters were reported to be roaming the city, destroying houses belonging to Yakomas. Concerns were also raised over atrocities committed by all sides to the conflict. “The response to the failed coup ... by the loyalist troops backed by a Libyan contingent and Congolese militias of Jean-Pierre Bemba [Mouvement pour la Liberation du Congo - MLC] is at this point unanimously considered disproportionate,” said a report from the Italian-based Missionary Service News Agency (MISNA). “[T]he blood shed of countless innocent civilians [is] completely extraneous to the ongoing vendetta between [President Ange-Felix] Patasse and the rebel soldiers tied to his predecessor Andre Kolingba.” Urgent concern was also voiced over what many humanitarian agencies are calling a looming humanitarian catastrophe, as residents were running out of food on Tuesday. The continuing fighting blocked a main supply route into the city, according to AP. Civilians said the pro-government alliance had blocked the route carrying almost all the city’s food in order to prevent rebels from fleeing in that direction. “We are abandoned. We are hostages. Everybody wants to get out of Bangui,” one resident told AP. “Right now we’re looking at an estimated 60,000 displaced people within a 40-km radius of Bangui. In terms of food, medicine, and shelter, there is a catastrophe in the making. Even if the fighting were to cease within the next couple of days... the displaced populations and their host communities will experience enormous difficulties... as the resources that are available at present are rather limited, even if they could be mobilised immediately,” an NGO source told IRIN on Wednesday. Reuters reported that a government call for people to return to work on Tuesday was widely ignored as most shops remained closed and streets were largely deserted except for government troops in pick-ups. Adding to the CAR’s concerns, the government of the DRC has criticised Ange-Felix Patasse for seeking military help from the Congolese rebel MLC. “It is paradoxical to see a rebel movement cross over to the other side whereas we have diplomatic relations with the CAR,” Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation She Leonard Okitundu told Gabonese Africa No 1 radio on Tuesday. The CAR ambassador to the DRC, Bernard Le Sissa, sought to allay all fear and speculation regarding the assistance of the MLC. “This is to tell you that what is currently going on in the CAR will not have any impact - I repeat, no impact - on the relations between the CAR and the DRC. I can assure you of this... President Patasse has never supported Jean-Pierre Bemba... The CAR has no military pact or agreement with Jean-Pierre Bemba, and I wish to repeat that when your house is on fire, no matter which neighbour brings you a bucket of water, you cannot refuse it,” Le Sissa said in an interview with RTNC TV. The MLC has justified the presence of its troops on the side of the CAR loyalist forces by saying that it is necessary to guarantee security along the DRC borders with its neighbors. “We are signatories to the Lusaka Accords, and one of the problems of this war in the DRC is that fact that our country has become a sanctuary for all armies, all rebel forces in Central Africa. We, obviously, want to avoid that the north of the DRC also becomes a sanctuary for armed people. This is the reason why we decided to intervene to essentially guarantee security along our border,” said MLC Secretary General Olivier Kamitatu in an interview with Gabonese Africa No 1 radio on Tuesday. IRIN continued to receive reports on Wednesday of looting and violence against civilians by MLC soldiers, despite a government statement issued on Monday warning loyalist troops hunting Kolingba and his rebels to show restraint. “The defence and security forces have received firm instructions to avoid looting and exactions against individuals in order to facilitate the return of free circulation across the entire capital,” Government Secretary-General Georges Gahorothe stated in the communiqué. Joining a growing number of countries and organisations to condemn the failed coup attempt, Sudan, in its capacity as the current chairman of the Sahel and Sahara Community, on Tuesday confirmed its backing of the legitimate government in the CAR, which is a member of the community. CAR, a former French colony that stretches from northern savannah bordering Chad to southern rainforest bordering the DRC, remains one of Africa’s poorest countries. Kolingba led three unsuccessful coup attempts against Patasse in 1996 and 1997, reportedly motivated by insufficient military salaries, after which a French-backed African force followed by a UN peacekeeping mission were sent to CAR. Patasse won re-election in 1999 amid opposition claims of vote fraud.