Bangui garde le silence sur les combats dans le nord-ouest

BANGUI, 10 février 2003 (IRIN) -  Le Gouvernement de la République centrafricaine (RCA) est demeuré silencieux malgré les informations persistantes selon lesquelles les rebelles fidèles à l'ancien chef d'état-major de l'armée, François Bozizé, auraient repris la  ville de Bozoum, à 384 km au nord-ouest de la capitale, Bangui. "Ce sont des secrets militaires et je suis tenu de préserver les secrets officiels", a déclaré à IRIN, jeudi, le ministre adjoint de la Défense, le colonel Jerôme Bouba, lorsqu'il a été invité à commenter ces rumeurs. Les troupes gouvernementales et celles de leur allié de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC), le Mouvement de libération du Congo (MLC), occupaient précédemment cette ville. Des journaux de Bangui ont rapporté que le Gouvernement avait dépêché des renforts de combattants du MLC et des miliciens rwandais pour tenter de reprendre Bozoum, qui est traversée par la route reliant Bangui au port de mer de Douala, au Cameroun, où transitent toutes les exportations et importations centrafricaines. On ne sait toujours  pas qui, exactement, contrôle Bozoum, mais des travailleurs humanitaires  indépendants ont informé IRIN que les combattants de M. Bozizé l'occupaient  depuis deux semaines. (Voir texte complet en anglais ci-dessous)

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Bangui silent on fighting in northwest

BANGUI, 7 Feb 2003 (IRIN) - The Central African Republic (CAR) government has remained silent amid persistent reports that rebels loyal to the former army chief of staff, Francois Bozize, have retaken the town of Bozoum, 384 km northwest of the capital, Bangui.

"These are military secrets, and I am bound to preserve official secrets," Col Jerome Bouba, the deputy defence minister, told IRIN on Thursday when asked to comment on the reports.

Government troops and those of their ally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC), had been occupying the town. Newspapers in Bangui report that the government has sent reinforcements of MLC fighters and Rwandan militiamen to try to recapture Bozoum, which straddles the road linking Bangui with the Cameroonian seaport of Douala, through which all the CAR’s exports and imports pass.

It is still unclear who controls Bozoum, but independent humanitarian workers told IRIN that Bozize's fighters had been occupying it for two weeks.

These developments occurred 10 days before the announced planned withdrawal of the MLC fighters, who had aroused the wrath of Bangui residents for their acts of rape and pillage. The MLC fighters have been shoring up the CAR army ever since Bozize’s failed invasion of Bangui on 25 October 2002. On Radio France Internationale on Tuesday, President Ange-Felix Patasse said the public was urging him to keep the MLC fighters in the country. On the same occasion, he renewed his call for French military intervention.

Patasse has initiated efforts to hold a "national dialogue" to end the crisis. On Wednesday, President Denis Sassou-Nguesso of the Republic of Congo received the bishop of Bossangoa (305 km northwest of Bangui), Monsignor Paulin Paulin Pomodimo, who has been nominated to chair the dialogue. Pomodimo had come to seek Sassou-Nguesso’s advice on conducting an effective dialogue and on conflict resolution.

"I have received some sound advice from friends who want to help us prepare properly for our national dialogue," Pomodimo said.