FRANCE WANTS ACTION ON CENTRAL AFRICA “SECTARIAN POISON”
Source: Trust Org
FRANCE’S
foreign minister heads to the CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (CAR) aiming to drum up
international interest for a largely forgotten crisis that risks dragging Paris
into a new military intervention in one of its former colonies.
The
nation has descended into chaos since mostly Muslim Seleka rebels ousted
President Francois Bozize in March, the latest coup in the country that remains
one of the world’s poorest despite resources ranging from gold to uranium.
FRANCE
has urged world and regional powers not to ignore a conflict that has already
seen more than 400,000 people driven from their homes by acts of violence such
as murder and rape.
FRANCE RELUCTANT TO BE LEFT ALONE TO DEAL WITH ANOTHER
AFRICAN HOTSPOT – MALI, CHAD AND NOW the CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Paris
is reluctant to be left to deal with another AFRICAN hotspot after it felt
allies such as the UNITED STATES were hesitant to help it halt a rebel advance
by al Qaeda-linked insurgents in MALI earlier this year.
“There
is an explosive cocktail in CAR and we fear this country will become a magnet
for all the armed groups in the region,” a FRENCH diplomatic source said ahead
of Laurent Fabius’ trip to the capital Bangui, the first by a FRENCH foreign
minister in more than 10 years.
While
CAR is rich in minerals, that wealth is largely unexploited thanks to decades
of instability and the spillover from conflicts in larger neighbours including SUDAN
to the east and the DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO to the south.
Mercenaries
from CHAD, MALI and SUDAN already form a large portion of Seleka rebels.
Janjaweed Arab fighters from Darfur are present. Members of the rebel Lord’s
Resistance Army, which UGANDA accuses Khartoum of backing, have set up in the
country.
Background Information:
FRENCH MILITARY INTERVENTION IN MALI ALSO REVEALED THE
RELUCTANCE OF COUNTRIES TO SHARE THE BURDEN FOR PROVIDING SECURITY IN THE SAHEL
read entire article at: http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com/2013/07/eu-involvement-in-mali.html
AFRICA, A CONTINENT WHICH DECADES AGO WAS OF NO OR MERELY
PERIPHERAL INTEREST TO THE REST OF THE WORLD SUDDENLY BECOMES A FOCAL POINT read entire article at:
EU INTEREST IN STABILIZING CHAD read entire article at:
THE POWER VACUUM WITHIN CAR PAVES THE WAY FOR WAHHABI
EXTREMIST’S ADVANCES
CAR
is geographically at the centre of what some strategists have called an “arc of
insecurity” involving Islamic militants and stretching from KENYA and SOMALIA
in eastern AFRICA to MAURITANIA in the west.
The
power vacuum in CAR is paving the way for al Qaeda-linked Islamists ousted from
MALI, while lawlessness in north CAMEROON is opening a route to CAR for NIGERIA’S
Boko Haram.
“We
are seeing the start of an internal sectarian poison that we never had in the
past coupled with an international aspect that we hadn’t seen either,” said the
source.
FRANCES POOR RELATIONSHIP WITH CAR
Unlike
some of its other colonies in AFRICA, FRANCE has had a poor relationship with
CAR since independence in 1960, and has been reluctant to get directly involved
in the crisis, urging AFRICAN nations to do their utmost to resolve it.
The
AFRICAN UNION has responded by deploying about 2,500 troops as part of its
3,600-strong MISCA mission, made up of forces from CHAD, GABON, CONGO REPUBLIC and
CAMEROON.
Background Information:
POROUS BORDERS TURN
LIBYA INTO RADICAL SANCTUARY Read entire article at: http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com/2013/10/libya-wild-west-of-northern-africa.html
SEVEN ECONOMIES IN SUB
- SAHARAN AFRICA ARE EXPECTED TO BE AMONG THE TEN FASTEST GROWING ECONOMIES IN
THE WORLD. Read entire article at:
But
its material, logistic and financial resources are limited, prompting FRANCE to
seek a U.N. Security Council mandate that would address that and turn MISCA
into a U.N. peacekeeping force ultimately supported by FRENCH troops.
“It’s
not obvious, because CAR doesn’t interest anybody. People hardly know where it
is, and if we don’t do it then nobody will,” said another FRENCH diplomat.
The
immediate objective is to minimise the level of support Paris has to give by
ensuring that collectively Africa, the United Nations, EU and France act
together.
It
also wants transitional president and former Seleka leader Michel Djotodia to
completely disassociate himself from the rebels and abide by an 18-month
timeline to elections.
“We’re
not looking for new interventions here or there. It’s not for FRANCE to solve
the crisis. It’s no longer our role to be AFRICA’S policeman,” said a senior
French official.
“On
top of that a mission like this is very costly and let’s not pretend, we can’t
do it alone given our budgetary issues.”
But
if the hope is to get other world powers mobilised, there is a degree of
realism in FRANCE that it may at some point have to get directly involved given
that the level of Security Council support for giving MISCA a U.N. mandate is
unclear.
FRANCE,
which has about 400 troops in CAR protecting the airport and FRENCH interests,
has already explored some options.
It
could seek to boost its troop numbers to 1,200 to quickly restore security on
the ground, or increase the force to 700-750 soldiers with a specific role to
support MISCA.
It
may also decide to keep the contingent’s size unchanged, but turn it into a
rapid reaction force.
Editing
by Mark John and Alison Williams
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