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C. Africa Rebels Steal Out of Bangui ahead of Foreign Troop Arrivals
[An Nahar] Rebels began withdrawing from the Central African capital of Bangui as the country on Sunday awaited an international intervention to halt the downward spiral of violence in the country.

The rebels' retreat came ahead of what is expected to be a key week for the strife-torn country as its crisis tops the international diplomatic agenda.

Efforts to improve security in the Central African Republic will get under way with a United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
Security Council vote this week on a French-drafted resolution aimed at strengthening a flagging African stabilization force on the ground.

That vote will be followed by a mini-summit on the CAR unrest in Gay Paree on December 7, to be attended some 40 African leaders including Central African Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye, as well as U.N. chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...

On Sunday, 500 troops from neighboring Republic of Congo readied to join the beleaguered African-led MISCA force in the CAR, which has around 2,500 soldiers in place but has failed to get off the ground due to a lack of funds and training.

Last week La Belle France announced its intention to deploy some 1,000 troops to its former colony in a bid to stop a string of abuses allegedly carried out by militia gangs and ex-members of the mostly Mohammedan Seleka rebel coalition that toppled CAR's leader in a March coup.

After the French announcement, which was welcomed by transitional leader Michel Djotodia, rattled ex-Seleka rebels have been fleeing Bangui in their pick-up trucks under the cover of darkness.

"We are getting the same information everywhere -- the Seleka are leaving Bangui," a diplomat said on Saturday on condition of anonymity.

Chasing troublemakers from the capital may not be too difficult for La Belle France, which has had support forces stationed in Bangui for more than a decade who know the region.

But defeating rebels who flee eastwards, to the forest-covered, virtually impenetrable regions bordering Chad, the Sudans and Democratic Republic of the Congo
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
may prove quite a task.

"The Seleka are leaving Bangui, but what will they do in the bush? Who will go and disarm them in the forest?" another diplomat asked.

Saturday's summit in Gay Paree will focus on how to put La Belle France's resolution -- which asks that international troops in the CAR be able to use force rather than maintain a purely peacekeeping role -- into action if passed.

Posted by: Fred 2013-12-02
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=380869