Talks between Central African Republic’s gov’t and rebels reach deadlock

The Central African Republic’s peace talks between the Seleka rebels, the government, the unarmed opposition as well as the civil society which began on Wednesday in Libreville, continued until late in the night without a release of the final statement.

Immediately the talks began, the Seleka delegates came up with a fresh and surprising demand. They demanded that Bozize not only leaves power but that he should be taken to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to respond to the war crimes that he had committed in the last 12 years he has been serving as the president of the Central African Republic.

“President Francois Bozize is the biggest problem not only for Central African Republic, but also for the entire Central Africa region,” said one of the Seleka representative as he walked out of the discussion room.

The delegation of the Bangui authorities expressed its irritation with the conditions that had been set by the rebels and the opposition. They insisted that Bozize will not leave power until the end of his term in 2016.

The governmental delegation left the discussion hall and returned to their hotel room to hold further consultations with Bangui. It did not return to the discussion venue.

The mediation team decided to listen to each camp separately, but none of them was willing to climb down on their positions. The situation reached a complete deadlock when Seleka left the discussion hall while expressing their anger towards Bozize.

At the same time, Seleka refused to sign a ceasefire agreement and open humanitarian corridors if Bozize is not transferred to the ICC.

While leaving the discussion hall, Seleka requested to hold a brief meeting with the sub-regional presidents when they meet on Thursday in Libreville to propose a plan for ending the crisis in the Central African Republic.

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