CENTRAL AFRICANS PROTESTING FRANCE POLICY TO ITS COUNTRY
Bangui, 20 Shafar 1435/23 December 2013 (MINA) – Muslims in Bangui, Central African Republic (CAR), protesting with raised placards referring to French President François Hollande.
Demonstrators used rocks, metal barrels and pieces of wood to block the road, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
Earlier in the day, French and Congolese peacekeepers violently broke up an anti-French protest carried out by Muslims in Bangui.
The French and Congolese soldiers fired volleys of teargas and nitrogen grenades to disperse protesters in the Galabadia neighborhood, close to the president’s private residence.
The protestors burnt tires and blocked the roads whilst carrying anti-French placards.
“French crimes against the Central African Republic,” one placard read.
Muslims in the capital have been frustrated and angry at the French intervention which they claim is against the Muslim population.
“The problems started as soon as the French stepped foot in this country,” imam Hassan told.
“Normal Muslims have never attacked anyone and even now we hold back, but the French are disarming Muslims and allowing them to be killed by mobs,” he said.
Representatives of Muslims today gave French troops in the country a week ultimatum to end what they described as French support to the anti-balaka.
They threatened a Muslim rebellion against the French and a partition of the country into a Muslim north and a Christian south.
In a report issued Thursday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) it described the anti-balaka militias as “local vigilantes and soldiers loyal to the previous government.”
It accused the Christian militia of perpetrating a number of recent “atrocities” against Muslim communities.
CAR, a mineral-rich landlocked country, descended into anarchy in March, when Seleka rebels – said to be mostly Muslims – ousted Christian President François Bozize, who had assumed power in a 2003 coup.
CAR is blessed with different types of minerals such as Uranium, Gold, diamond and copper, among others.
However, the country is described as one of the world’s least developed with an estimated per capita income of $800.
France has deployed nearly 1,600 troops under a UN mandate to restore security in its former colony. (T/P09/P04).
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
