Central African rebels demand withdraw of South African troops

By Godfrey Olukya 31-1-2013

Central African republic rebels called Seleka are demanding withdraw of foreign troops from the country and fulfillment of what they agreed on before signing the peace agreement.

Seleka rebels spokesman Florian Ndjadder has demanded for the the departure of South African troops deployed in the Central African republic recently to support incumbent president Francois Bozize
regime.

Ndjadder said, ‘We want South African forces to leave the country. They should stop meddling in our affairs. They should leave unconditionally.’

He also demands that the defense ministry post to be given to the opposition as they agreed on in the peace talks.

The rebels were reportedly gaining territory and threatening to topple the regime when some countries sent their troops to protect the regime. However, they held talks with the government and stopped fighting.

They are accusing the president of not keeping the promise he made while signing the peace deal that brought an end to their military offensive earlier this month. By the time they came to an agreement, the Seleka were threatening to march to the capital Bangui.

On seeing that the rebels were determined to take over power, Bozize reportedly agreed to sign a power-sharing deal on January 11, 2013 in Gabonese capital, Libreville.

The Seleka rebels started fighting against Central African republic in December 2012. They claimed that they attacked the government forces because president Bozize’s regime had failed to comply with previous peace deals that required that some rebels get government jobs while others get integrated in the national army.

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