| CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: UN Peace-building 
    Office to work with new administration 
      
        |  ©  IRIN
 Lamine Cisse, representative of the UN secretary-general in 
        CAR and head the UN Peace-building Office   |  BANGUI, 2 Apr 2003 (IRIN) - The 
    representative of the UN secretary-general in the Central African Republic 
    (CAR), Lamine Cisse, has said the activities of the UN Peace-building Office 
    (BONUCA) in CAR will be revised and adapted to the new situation in the 
    country.
 "The mandate remains the same, but the activities will be readjusted," Cisse, 
    who heads BONUCA, told IRIN on Tuesday. "Before, we worked with a 
    democratically elected regime. Now we are going to work with a different 
    one."
 
 The self-declared president of CAR, Francois Bozize, seized power from 
    former President Ange-Felix Patasse on 15 March after a period of fighting 
    which began in October 2002.
 
 BONUCA replaced the UN Mission in the CAR, known as MINURCA, in June 2000 
    and was mandated to consolidate peace there after three mutinies in 1996 
    and1997 and to support democratic institutions. BONUCA has been organising 
    meetings between political parties and members of parliament, educating 
    people about human rights and advising on information, administration, and 
    military and civil police matters.
 
 Cisse, who met Bozize on 27 March, said he had to wait for a national 
    transitional council to be formed before he knew exactly what BONUCA could 
    do.
 |