Central African Republic agrees peace deals with two rebel groups

Supporters of the Republican Bloc for the Defence of the Constitution (BRDC) hold placards during a demonstration against a third term for Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadéra in Bangui on 4 April. (Annela Niamolo/AFP)

CAR government has signed peace deals with two armed Fulani groups,UPC and 3R,mediated by Chad. Both groups committed to cease hostilities and rejoin 2019's peace process after leaving in 2021. Fighting persists in remote areas despite violence subsiding and the government securing main cities.

The Central African Republic's government has signed peace deals with two of the five groups in the country's most powerful armed rebel movement,officials said on Friday.The agreements were signed last week in Chad,which acted as a mediator.

"They committed to immediately ceasing hostilities upon signing the agreements on April 19... under the auspices of the guarantor,Chad," General Henry Wanzet Linguissara said.

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The CAR is among the poorest countries in the world and,since independence from France in 1960,has endured a succession of coups,authoritarian rulers and civil wars.

The latest civil war started more than a decade ago.

The government has secured the main cities,and violence has subsided in recent years.

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However,fighting occasionally erupts in remote regions between rebels and the national army,which is backed by Wagner mercenaries and Rwandan troops.

The two predominantly Fulani armed groups that signed peace agreements are the Union for Peace in the Central African Republic (UPC) and the 3R Return,Reclamation and Rehabilitation group.No details on the terms of the agreements or a timeframe were released.

But Linguissara said the two groups had "committed to reintegrating into the peace process" struck by the government with 14 armed groups in 2019.

The UPC and the 3R had left the process in 2021.

Government spokesperson Maxime Balalou said:

We are waiting for this desire (for peace) to materialise on the ground.

The two groups are part of the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC),founded in December 2020 with the aim of overthrowing President Faustin Archange Touadera after he was re-elected for a second term.

It is headed by exiled ex-president Francois Bozize,who seized power in 2003 in a coup and was,in turn,ousted by a Muslim-dominated armed coalition called the Seleka.

Now living in exile in Guinea-Bissau,Bozize is the target of an arrest warrant issued by a United Nations-sponsored tribunal in the CAR for possible crimes against humanity.