CAR Congo: Prime Minister Calls For Reconciliation Dialogue By End Of Year

By Staff Writer

Central African Republic's (CAR) new Premier Mahamat Kamoun said the country will hold a national reconciliation dialogue at the end of this year which will include all parties and will be based on the cease-fire agreement reached on July 23 in Congo (Brazzaville) between former Seleka coalition and anti-balaka, the two warring parties.

Kamoun said that the process wil be for the people and by the people and they everyone will get a chance to speak.

The prime minister said the dialogue will be an opportunity for people to meet and talk as well as resolve their differences for the sake of reconstructing their country battered by political and military crises.

He said at the moment the exact time and style have not been fixed for the dialogue.

It is not clear whether former presidents Francois Bozize and Michel Djotodia will be invited to attend the dialogue.

Kamoun, a Muslim was appointed by the Transitional Head of State, Catherine Samba-Panza on Aug 10 replacing Andre Nzapayeke who resigned five days earlier along with his government, is to oversee the transition to its conclusion by February 2015.

Nzapayeke resigned along with his cabinet in order to pave way for the implementation of the July 23, 2014 Brazzaville Ceasefire Accord between anti-Balaka and Seleka militias.

Kamoun, a Special Adviser to the Presidency before his appointment, was a financial expert who served as Director General of Treasury under former President Francois Bozize and Director of Cabinet or Chief of Staff to Seleka leader and immediate past Head of State, Michel Djotodia.

Since the forced resignation of Djotodia and his Prime Minister, Nicolas Tiangaye in January, Kamoun stayed on in the cabinet as Minister of State, Special Adviser to President Catherine Samba-Panza.

Kamoun faces the monstrous task of forming an inclusive government in the coming days that is acceptable to the country's stakeholders.

 President Samba-Panza over the weekend promised that the new cabinet would be released this week.

In a bid to build on the momentum of the recent accord, the president over the weekend organized a rally in the capital, Bangui, to urge all warring parties to bury the hatchet. Thousands of peace activists marched through the streets of the capital before converging on the city's stadium where the she addressed the crowd.

The rally followed a night of heavy fighting between the army and anti-Balaka militiamen in the Boy Rabe neighbourhood of Bangui that left at least two people dead.

Meanwhile, at least five people have been killed during an attack by armed men, believed to be anti-Seleka fighters, on a northern town in the CAR, a source in the African peacekeeping force has said.

The two groups - Seleka and balaka - were the main players in sectarian violence that left thousands of people dead and hundreds of thousands displaced in the country over the last two years.

The civil war in CAR broke out on Dec 10, 2012 between Seleka rebel coalition and government forces.

Seleka a Muslim group took power from then president Bozize in March 2013 and the rebel's leader Djotodia declared himself as president, leading to a bloody authoritarian rule over citizens of Christian inclination for ten months before anti-Balaka a Christian outfit was formed, forcing Seleka out of power and Muslims to flee into the neighbouring Chad