SA troops to leave CAR, Zuma tells summit

SOUTH African troops will pull out of the Central African Republic (CAR), President Jacob Zuma told a regional summit on the post-coup crisis yesterday.

“President Zuma has decided to withdraw the South African forces which are deployed in Bangui,” Chadian President Idriss Deby said, adding that Mr Zuma was ready to provide troops in the future if necessary.

Mr Zuma had faced prickly questions over the presence of his troops, 13 of whom were killed in the bloody battle for the capital, Bangui.

African heads of state decided yesterday that it was impossible to recognise rebel chief Michel Djotodia as president of CAR, and want the country to elect a transitional president, Chad’s leader said at the end of a summit called to discuss the political crisis.

The meeting in Chad’s capital N’Djamena was a regional response to the successful rebellion, which ousted former president François Bozizé last month.

“As things stand now, it is im- possible to recognise a self-proclaimed president,” Mr Deby told journalists.

“A committee selected by national figures must lead the transition. This body will have the executive role and must vote for a transitional president” who would serve for no more than 18 months.

Mr Deby added that a legislative body would also be established in Chad’s southern neighbour “which will draw up a constitution and take on the role of parliament”.

Starting today, a mission comprised of ministers from the Economic Community Of Central African States (ECCAS), its partners and representatives from the African Union (AU), the European Union and the international organisation of French-speaking states will go to Bangui “to take the message to Central Africans”, Mr Deby said.

Chad, the region’s dominant military power, hosted a meeting of the ECCAS, according to some sources as a way to give the rebel Seleka coalition regime in the CAR a semblance of legitimacy.

A diplomatic source said the sixnation bloc sought to create a national transition council led by Mr Djotodia to “regain a little international legitimacy”. Mr Djotodia has promised elections by 2016, but the international community is expected to press him to accelerate the transition.

“The best transitions are those that are short,” AU peace and security commissioner Ramtane Lamamra said ahead of the closeddoor meeting yesterday.

The country’s opposition parties have rejected the new government, saying it is stacked with Mr Djotodia’s allies.

Mr Djotodia’s civilian prime minister Nicolas Tiangaye was expected to attend the N’Djamena summit while Mr Djotodia remained at home in the CAR.

A spokeswoman for Mr Djotodia said she hoped the new leadership in Bangui would get regional backing.

“What we want is support from the AU and ECCAS (the Economic Community of Central African States) for all of our plans to restore peace in the country .… We need legitimacy,” Anne Victoire Yakossobe said.

Mr Bozizé — last reported in Cameroon seeking asylum in Benin — said he had been refused a seat at the summit.

Mr Bozizé has accused Chadian special forces of leading the fighting, in an interview with the BBC.

Observers have said Mr Bozizé appears to have been left in the lurch by Chad, a once-powerful ally which helped him mount a coup in 2003.

“It was Chadian special forces that led the operation on the Sunday morning and attacked the base of the South Africans,” Mr Bozizé told BBC Africa.

A source close to the rebellion said that it was “difficult to believe Mr Deby did not know about it. If he didn’t encourage it, he let it happen.” A recent report from the International Crisis Group said Chad was “suspected of having dubious relations with Seleka”.

About 400 Chadian soldiers formed part of a multinational

The attacking force was far different from the ‘rag tag’ rebel force originally reported. It was clear that many were not from the CAR

African peacekeeping force, sent to stabilise the country in 2008. But it was South African soldiers stationed in the capital who came up against the rebels on March 23-24, as they stormed the capital after a January peace deal collapsed.

South African media reports have suggested that the soldiers were defending South African mining interests, but officials in Pretoria have denied this.

They say the presence of about 200 South African troops was covered by a 2007 bilateral defence accord with Mr Bozizé.

South African defence analyst Helmoed Heitman backed up these claims in a detailed account of the battle in the Sunday Independent.

“The attacking force was far different from the ‘ rag tag’ rebel force originally reported.

“Most of them in standardised uniforms with proper webbing and with flak jackets, new AK-47s and heavy weapons up to 23mm cannons,” he wrote in the newspaper.

“It was also clear that many were not from the CAR, some speaking with Chad accents and others having distinctly Arabic features.”

SA’s main opposition has demanded an immediate pull-out of the troops while local media reports suggest the soldiers were protecting private business interests.

Mr Zuma on Tuesday dismissed these as “conspiracy theories”, saying a contingent was sent to train local forces and provide protection for Mr Bozizé under the 2007 deal.

Central African sources close to the presidency and security sources say Mr Zuma and Mr Bozizé had signed accords “giving South African businesses access to oil, diamond and gold riches”. Sapa-AFP, Reuters