Regional peacekeeping force to arrive "early this week"

The first soldiers of a 350-man regional peacekeeping force are due to arrive "early this week" in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), Gen Lamine Cisse, the Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General in the CAR, told IRIN on Sunday. "A dozen Gabonese military officers will be in Bangui early this week, and will be followed by 177 Gabonese soldiers, whose training concluded yesterday [Saturday 2 November]," Cisse said. He added that contingents from the Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea would be sent in as soon as they finished their specialised training. Mali has also promised troops. However, Cameroon said it could not commit forces but that it would be willing to train CAR troops. Cisse noted that in the wake of the 26-31 October incursion into Bangui by supporters of Gen Francois Bozize, the former chief of staff of the CAR army, the UN was appealing for donor funds to support the regional force, whose deployment was scheduled to begin on Monday under an accord signed in the Gabonese capital, Libreville, on 2 October aimed at ending tensions between CAR and Chad. "We are still within the time limit, and the UN has launched an appeal for funds to the donors," Cisse said. The regional force is to replace a Libyan contingent of some 200 men that has been stationed in CAR since the failed 28 May 2001 coup by former President Andre Kolingba. It will be responsible for protecting President Ange-Felix Patasse, restructuring the CAR's armed forces, and monitoring the CAR-Chad border zones. Bozize's forces were driven out of Bangui late last week by CAR forces supported by the Libyan contingent and forces of Jean-Pierre Bemba's rebel Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo. CAR Defence Minister Pierre Angoua told IRIN on Monday that Bozize's forces had now retreated about 300 km north of Bangui, toward the Chadian border. The situation in Bangui was continuing to return to normal on Monday, with Prime Minister Martin Ziguele calling on Central Africans to return to work. However, the casualties of the six-day battle remain unclear and MLC soldiers were reported to be continuing their pillage of Bangui's northern suburbs. RFI reported on Saturday that Bemba was in Bangui on Saturday, and promised to punish any MLC soldiers involved in criminal activity. His forces have been widely accused of rape and theft.