Central African leader, rebels sign peace accord
(Updates with signing of peace agreement)
By Jean-Magloire Issa
BANGUI, April 13 (Reuters) - Central African Republic President Francois Bozize signed a peace accord on Friday with a rebel group which has attacked towns and villages in the remote northeast of the country, a U.N. official said.
General Lamine Cisse, U.N. Special Representative to the Central African Republic, said the deal was signed in the isolated northeast town of Birao and would help end violence that has driven thousands of civilians from their homes.
"This brings peace closer ... it's very important for political dialogue," Cisse, who witnessed the signing in Birao, told Reuters by telephone.
General Damane Zakaria, military commander of the rebel Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR), was the other signatory to the accord which foresees an immediate ceasefire and the reintegration of UFDR fighters into the national army.
The agreement was similar to a peace deal signed by Bozize in February in Libya with two other rebel leaders.
UFDR rebels, who occupied the town of Birao for several weeks last year, carried out more attacks last month in and around the town, which is located in a rugged area bordering the southern end of Sudan's violence-torn Darfur region.
Last month, almost all of the 14,000 population of Birao fled into the bush to avoid rebels attacks, U.N. officials said.
Humanitarian agencies hope the ceasefire will restore security to the region and allow them to provide food, medical attention and other basic services to the displaced people.
Bozize, who seized power in a 2003 coup and then won an election in 2005, has been to trying to make peace deals with several rebel groups that have been raiding across the north of the country, driving thousands of civilians into the bush.
Relief workers have described Central African Republic's conflict as a "forgotten" humanitarian crisis that has forced nearly 300,000 people from their homes.
Under a bilateral defence accord, former colonial power France sent special forces backed by helicopters and fighter jets to Birao late last year to help government troops dislodge the UFDR rebels. The French forces have since then clashed again with the rebels in and around the town.
The northeast Vakaga prefecture where Birao is situated has a porous frontier with Sudan's Darfur region, where political and ethnic conflict has raged since 2003. (Additional reporting by Pascal Fletcher in Dakar)
By Jean-Magloire Issa
BANGUI, April 13 (Reuters) - Central African Republic President Francois Bozize signed a peace accord on Friday with a rebel group which has attacked towns and villages in the remote northeast of the country, a U.N. official said.
General Lamine Cisse, U.N. Special Representative to the Central African Republic, said the deal was signed in the isolated northeast town of Birao and would help end violence that has driven thousands of civilians from their homes.
"This brings peace closer ... it's very important for political dialogue," Cisse, who witnessed the signing in Birao, told Reuters by telephone.
General Damane Zakaria, military commander of the rebel Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR), was the other signatory to the accord which foresees an immediate ceasefire and the reintegration of UFDR fighters into the national army.
The agreement was similar to a peace deal signed by Bozize in February in Libya with two other rebel leaders.
UFDR rebels, who occupied the town of Birao for several weeks last year, carried out more attacks last month in and around the town, which is located in a rugged area bordering the southern end of Sudan's violence-torn Darfur region.
Last month, almost all of the 14,000 population of Birao fled into the bush to avoid rebels attacks, U.N. officials said.
Humanitarian agencies hope the ceasefire will restore security to the region and allow them to provide food, medical attention and other basic services to the displaced people.
Bozize, who seized power in a 2003 coup and then won an election in 2005, has been to trying to make peace deals with several rebel groups that have been raiding across the north of the country, driving thousands of civilians into the bush.
Relief workers have described Central African Republic's conflict as a "forgotten" humanitarian crisis that has forced nearly 300,000 people from their homes.
Under a bilateral defence accord, former colonial power France sent special forces backed by helicopters and fighter jets to Birao late last year to help government troops dislodge the UFDR rebels. The French forces have since then clashed again with the rebels in and around the town.
The northeast Vakaga prefecture where Birao is situated has a porous frontier with Sudan's Darfur region, where political and ethnic conflict has raged since 2003. (Additional reporting by Pascal Fletcher in Dakar)
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