[ 2013-03-24 ]

Chaos as C. Africa rebels seize capital Bangui
BANGUI, Central African Republic (AFP) - Rebels in
the Central African Republic fighting to topple
President Francois Bozize seized control of the
capital Bangui on Sunday, with the whereabouts of
their archfoe unknown.

Fighters in the Seleka rebel coalition launched a
swift assault on Bangui after the collapse of a
two-month-old peace deal in the notoriously
unstable former French colony -- ignoring a call
for talks to avoid a "bloodbath".

Witnesses reported widespread looting by armed men
as anarchy reigned in the riverside capital in the
wake of the seizure, with attacks on shops, houses
and cars.

"The rebels are in control of the city even though
there is still some sporadic gunfire," a source in
multinational central African force FOMAC told
AFP.

Gunbattles had erupted around the presidential
palace early Sunday after the rebels moved in to
the city on Saturday, facing little resistance
from the poorly equipped and ill-trained army.

The whereabouts of Bozize, who himself came to
power through a coup in 2003, remained a mystery.

He has not been seen since his return from a brief
visit to South Africa on Friday. Officials from
the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and
Congo-Brazzaville said he was not in their
countries.

"We have taken the presidential palace. Bozize was
not there," one of the rebel commanders on the
ground, Colonel Djouma Narkoyo, told AFP.

He said the rebels were planning to move on to the
national radio station, where Seleka leader Michel
Djotodia would make an address.

"Today will be decisive," Narkoyo had said
earlier. "We call on our brothers in FACA (the
Central African army) to lay down their arms."

There were no official statements from the
government Sunday about the latest developments,
although a high-ranking military source confirmed:
"What is certain is that they (the rebels) have
taken the city."

Heavy gunbattles erupted in Bangui at about 0700
GMT, but later the shooting became more sporadic,
an AFP correspondent said.

The shots caused panic among residents.

"We heard gunfire everywhere in the city centre.
It was chaos," said one witness. "Everyone started
running in all directions."

Narkoyo had told AFP on Saturday the rebels were
ready to meet with regional African leaders on the
crisis in the mineral-rich but deeply poor
country, but refused to negotiate with Bozize.

He had warned that if Seleka -- a loose alliance
of three rebel movements -- captured Bangui, it
would set up a new government.

The city was plunged into darkness on Saturday
after rebels sabotaged a hydroelectric power plant
in Boali, north of the capital, said residents and
an official with the Enerca electricity company.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye on
Saturday had called on the rebels to accept talks
to "avoid a bloodbath".

Tiangaye, an opposition figure, was appointed as
part of a peace deal brokered between the
government and the rebels in January, an agreement
that broke down last week.

Former colonial power France on Saturday called
for an emergency meeting of the UN Security
Council to discuss the deteriorating situation.

France had not issued an evacuation order, but the
estimated 1,250 French nationals in the country
were advised to stay at home, said Romain Nadal, a
spokesman for the president's office.

There were no immediate plans to send
reinforcements to back up the 250 French troops in
the country, he added.

The Security Council on Friday voiced strong
concern about the rebel advances "and their
humanitarian consequences", amid reports of
widespread summary executions, rapes, torture and
the use of children in conflict.

Seleka first launched its offensive in the north
on December 10, accusing Bozize of not abiding by
the terms of previous peace agreements.

Facing little resistance from the army, they
seized a string of towns, defying UN calls to stop
before halting within striking distance of
Bangui.

They reached a peace deal with the government in
January under which Tiangaye became head of a
national unity government that was to carry out
reforms before national elections next year.

But that deal collapsed this month after the
rebels said their demands, which included the
release of people they described as political
prisoners, had not been met.

The international community has nervously watched
the spike in tensions in the landlocked nation of
4.4 million people.

The country has been plagued by coups and army
mutinies since independence in 1960.

Source - AFP

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