TOGO: Former Central Africa leader , Ange Felix Patisse calls for talks with current leadership, from exile in Togo.

Record ID: 473471

  • Title: TOGO: Former Central Africa leader , Ange Felix Patisse calls for talks with current leadership, from exile in Togo.
  • Date: 5th February 2007
  • Summary: (AD1) BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (FILE - SEPTEMBER 19, 1993) (REUTERS) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ANGE-FELIX PATASSE ARRIVING VARIOUS, PATASSE VOTING IN PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
  • Embargoed: 20th February 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Togo
  • City:
  • Country: Togo
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAE7NOAHLUE0BAWJW6S0QTAN1F
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: The former leader of the Central African Republic (CAR), Ange Felix Patasse, speaking from exile in Togo, has requested dialogue with the current president of CAR, Francois Bozize. Bozize ousted Patasse in a coup in 2003. Exiled former Central African Republic President Ange Felix Patasse, accused of promoting rebellion in his home country, said on Friday (February 2) he wanted to hold negotiations with the former French colony's current leader.
    Patasse, overthrown in 2003 by current President Francois Bozize, has lived in exile in Togo since being ousted. Authorities in Central African Republic accuse him of trying to foment a revolt against Bozize's government.
    "We, Ange Felix Patasse, solemnly take the initiative, in front of national and international observers, of inviting the main actors in national politics, (former president) Andre Kolingba, Francois Bozize, and myself, to a direct meeting between the three of us," Patasse told reporters in Togo.
    "This three-way meeting at the top, is the way of wisdom which will begin a real and essential national dialogue without exception which we want with all our heart," Patasse added, speaking from his home in Lome.
    Central African Republic has long been racked by revolts and mutinies but has more recently had to deal with rebels and armed raiders spilling over from Sudan's conflict-torn Darfur region, which it borders.
    U.N. security experts have been evaluating an appeal from Bozize for peacekeepers to protect the borders of his country's northern region, hit by attacks most recently last month.
    Aid workers say the violence there, which has displaced thousands, is one of Africa's forgotten humanitarian crises.
    Some U.N. officials have expressed reservations about deploying blue helmets to Central African Republic, saying political solutions to its own rebellion should be worked out first in order to create a "peace to keep".
    In an apparent move in this direction, Bozize last month met rebel leaders opposed to his rule, including some viewed as Patasse's associates, on the sidelines of a gathering of African leaders hosted by Libya.
    There was no immediate comment from authorities in Central African Republic on Patasse's call for talks.
    In a separate move, a rebel leader in Central African Republic called on his fighters on Saturday (February 3) to lay down their weapons after he signed a peace deal with President Francois Bozize.
    Abdoulaye Miskine, leader of the People's Democratic Front which is one of two rebel groups to have signed the accord with Bozize in Libya on Friday, told Reuters those who disregarded his order would be punished.
    Under Friday's deal, brokered by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in his hometown of Sirte, the government and the two rebel factions agreed to stop hostilities and allow the rebels to integrate the ranks of government security and military forces or public service administration.
    Miskine and Ringui Le Gaillard, the other rebel leader who signed the agreement, are viewed as associates of exiled former President Angel Felix Patasse, who after his 2003 overthrow by Bozize has been accused of trying to foment rebellion.
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