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France urges swift election in Central African Republic

Iran Press TV

Sun Dec 8, 2013 4:2PM GMT

French President Francois Hollande has called for a swift election in the Central African Republic (CAR) after Paris launched a major military intervention in the violence-stricken Central African state against Seleka rebels.

During an exclusive interview with France 24 news network, Radio France Internationale and TV5 Monde global television network on Saturday, Hollande said that the CAR should hold democratic elections by 2015.

"Earlier we discussed with African leaders [and] the prime minister of the Central African Republic [Nicolas Tiangaye] - who belongs to a coalition that no longer exists on the ground - and the idea I support is to organize elections as soon as possible," Hollande stated.

The French president further noted that France was deploying a total of 1,600 troops to the CAR, which has been gripped by unrest since Seleka rebels seized control of the impoverished landlocked country in March, ousting former President Francois Bozize.

A recent UN report blamed the Seleka rebels for much of the chaos in the CAR, saying "uncontrolled Seleka elements and unidentified armed groups" in the country have committed 'arbitrary arrests and detention, sexual violence against women and children, torture, rape, targeted killings, recruitment of child soldiers, and attacks.'

On December 5, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution giving the African Union and France the go-ahead to send troops to the CAR.

French troops poured into the Central African Republic on Saturday.

On Sunday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that nearly 400 people have been killed in the last three days in violence in the Central African Republic's capital, Bangui.

The mission in the CAR is France's second military intervention in Africa in 2013. In January, Paris dispatched more than 4,000 troops to Mali, launching a fierce war against the militants in the country.

MP/PR