‘Thousands’ more troops needed to restore order

An archbishop and a leading imam from Central African Republic (CAR) this week urged politicians in Europe to press for several thousand UN peacekeepers to be dispatched urgently to the country, to contain the continuing high levels of violence.
Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Archbishop of the diocese covering the capital, Bangui, and Omar Kabine Layama, president of the CAR Islamic Community, said they were appealing for administrative help as well as military assistance to re-establish the rule of law.

The country descended into chaos following a coup by Séléka rebels last March that ousted long-time President François Bozize, and order has not been restored despite the 20 January election of Catherine Samba-Panza as interim President.
The imam, a monitor of peace and human rights in CAR, described the Séléka rebels as “jihadists” and said they came from Chad, Sudan and Qatar.

In response to killing and looting by the rebels, another group known as “anti-Balaka” started to carry out revenge attacks. Around 935,000 people, just over a fifth of the population, have fled their homes.

The religious leaders said the 4,000-strong African Union-led military force that currently had the job of peacekeeping was under-resourced and contained an “ambiguous” Chadian element. There is also a 1,600-strong French force, much better equipped, with helicopters and vehicles.

On Tuesday the French ambassador to the UN, Gérard Araud, said at least 10,000 peacekeeping troops were needed. On the same day the UN approved 500 EU troops which would be permitted to use force if necessary.

Through their friendship, the Catholic and Muslim leaders, along with the Revd Nicolas Guérékoyamé Gbangou, president of the Evangelical Alliance in CAR, have offered a model of interfaith cooperation to imams, priests and pastors across CAR.
Mr Layama said that CAR has “porous borders”, and the UN “would be good at responding to this challenge”.

While they were in Europe, the two leaders met French President François Hollande, Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders and the European Commission’s head of crisis response, Kristalina Georgieva.

In London, they met Foreign Office Minister Baroness Warsi and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and gave a briefing at the headquarters of the Catholic charity Cafod.