A Congo Brazzaville mediator met leaders of the anti-Balaka and Séléka on July 1, 2014.
In prelude to forthcoming peace talks in Congo Brazzaville on the crisis in the Central African Republic, CAR, an envoy of Congolese President, Denis Sassou N’guesso, has begun preliminary discussions with the leadership of the defunct Séléka and anti-Balaka militias.
“I met them one after the other and everyone wanted peace. I think the signs are good,” Radio France Internationale, RFI, yesterday, July 2, 2014, quoted Gen. Noël Léonard Essongo, as saying after talking to leaders of the two leading armed groups. Also speaking to the press after their discussions, the militia leaders restated their willingness to work for a cooling down of the tense political situation in the country. Meanwhile, the two sides are today, July 3, 2014, expected to release a statement on their pre-talks discussions.
Leaders of the Economic Community of Central African States, ECCAS, meeting in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on June 27, 2014, on the sidelines of the 23rd ordinary summit of the African Union, had appealed to CAR stakeholders to work for reconciliation and smooth polls by February 2015. They designated President Denis Sassou N’guesso as mediator in the crisis and requested that peace talks be held on a neutral ground.
Sub-regional leaders also called for the putting in place of a road map in order to ensure security and economic revival as well as a stop to discriminatory practices that threaten national cohesion. Reacting to the decisions of the Malabo mini-summit on CAR, African Union Peace and Security Commissioner, Smaïl Chergui, expressed doubt if the transition could still be concluded by February 2015, given the security challenges in the country. He however insisted on the need for the government to continue to prepare for any eventuality.
