• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC-CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Bangui, Kinshasa revive defence accords

BANGUI, 16 June 2003 (IRIN) - The leader of the Central African Republic CAR, Francois Bozize, and President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) agreed on Friday to revive defence accords between the two neighbouring countries, state-owned Radio Centrafrique reported.

Quoting a joint statement read by CAR Foreign Minister Karim Meckassoua after a day-long visit on Friday by Bozize to the DRC, the radio reported that the two leaders had agreed to revive all defence accords existing between their two countries, and to relaunch a CAR-DRC commission on security along the Congo and Oubangui rivers.

Bozize's visit to Kinshasa, the DRC capital, followed his visits to Chad, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea, all members of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States (CEMAC).

Bozize took power in the CAR on 15 March when he ousted President Ange-Felix Patasse. CEMAC has officially recognised Bozize's administration.

"Kabila took note of the recognition by CEMAC member states of the new CAR government," the joint statement indicated.

During fighting between government and rebels troops from October 2002 to March 2003, Patasse's troops were backed by fighters loyal to Jean Pierre Bemba's Mouvement de Liberation du Congo (MLC), a rebel movement controlling most of northwestern DRC. Due to the MLC intervention, relations between Bangui and Kinshasa deteriorated, as the MLC used the CAR as its supply base.

Meckassoua said that Bozize and Kabila had decided to "normalise relations of good neighbourliness after the confusions and ambiguities that preceded 15 March".

Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict

[ENDS]

The material contained on this Web site comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post any item on this site, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All graphics and Images on this site may not be re-produced without the express permission of the original owner. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003