Bozize orders removal of undisciplined soldiers

The leader of the Central African Republic (CAR), Francois Bozize, on Tuesday signed an order dismissing a number of soldiers from the army because of indiscipline, state-owned Radio Centrafrique reported. The radio said the soldiers named in the order had been removed from army lists and sent home. They inluded one dismissed for indiscipline, trafficking, causing a fatal accident and the use of an army vehicle for personal gains, and another for highway racketeering and inciting truckers to strike. There have been numerous calls from human rights groups in CAR for Bozize to exercise more control over his security forces and the foreign fighters who helped him seize power, following allegations of serious human rights abuses. On 19 December, Catholic Archbishop Paulin Pomodimo told a congregation, including Bozize, that the people of CAR refused "the cult of the knife" - a comment taken to refer to the former combatants and the Chadians who fought for Bozize from October 2002 to March 2003, when he took power in a coup.