Former President Francois Bozize speaks during a rally in Bangui, Central African Republic, November 24, 2020. CAMILLE LAFFONT / AFP
Civil war has been tearing the Central African Republic apart since 2013, when a coalition of Muslim-dominated armed groups, the Séléka, overthrew Bozizé, who then armed so-called anti-balaka militias, mostly Christian and animist.
One of the main leaders of the Central African rebellion, former President François Bozizé, left Chad where he was exiled for Guinea-Bissau which agreed to host him, the Chadian minister announced on Monday to AFP. Foreign Affairs.
François Bozizé, whose fall in 2013 against a rebel movement had triggered yet another civil war which continues today, took refuge in N’Djamena at the end of 2021, faced with the resumption of a major part of the Central African territory, the hands of various armed groups, by the soldiers of President Faustin Archange Touadéra but above all thanks to the intervention of hundreds of mercenaries from the private Russian security company Wagner.
Tense relations between Bangui and N’Djamena
But his presence in Chad, while his Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC), the main rebel movement, pursues a guerrilla war in the north of the country, had considerably strained relations between the two neighboring countries, Bangui accusing N’Djamena of leaving carry out the rebellion from its territory.
“François Bozizé left Chad on March 3“, under an agreement made possible during a “tripartite meeting Angola, Chad and Central African Republic in Luanda on February 17“, told AFP Mahamat Saleh Annadif, the head of Chadian diplomacy. Guinea-Bissau had agreed to collect him, he has been there since March 3, added the minister.
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“François Bozizé had come to Chad at the request of Angola and after an agreement from the Central African authorities», says Saleh Annadif, adding that “the evolution of the situation has shown that the Central African Republic is no longer for its presence in Chad as a neighboring country“. François Bozizé, general coordinator of the CPC, arrived on March 3 from N’Djamena, confirmed to AFP in Bissau an adviser to President Umaro Sissoco Embalo who requested anonymity, adding: “It was purely on a humanitarian basis that he was received“.
Civil war has torn the Central African Republic, one of the poorest countries in the world, since 2013, when a coalition of armed groups dominated by Muslims, the Séléka, overthrew Bozizé, who then organized and armed so-called anti-balaka militias, mostly Christians and animists, in an attempt to regain power.
The conflict, extremely deadly for civilians, peaked in 2018 before easing in intensity, and Séléka and anti-balaka are accused by the UN of having perpetrated numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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