C. Africa gears up for peace talks - but without rebels

The Central African Republic launches a national forum on Monday billed as a chance to bring peace to the troubled country -- but the goals of the talks remain vague, and no rebel groups are invited.

Demanded by the political opposition, the so-called Republican Dialogue for reconciliation was pledged by President Faustin Archange Touadera in December 2020.

Bringing together the government, "the unarmed opposition and civil society," the talks were promised by Touadera just after his re-election in a deeply troubled vote.

Less than a third of the electorate were able to cast their ballot, for most of the impoverished country was in the hands of armed groups -- a legacy from a succession of conflicts.

After months of procrastination, Touadera suddenly announced the forum on national radio on Tuesday evening, taking opposition leaders by surprise.

Holding the talks meets a commitment to respond to the pressures of an international community which has put the CAR, one of the world's poorest nations, on a drip feed.

Half of the population, estimated at 4.83 million in 2020 by the World Bank, endures acute food insecurity according to the United Nations, which has deployed one of its costliest peacekeeping missions since 2014.

Russian help

In the runup to the December 2020 polls, CAR's capital Bangui was threatened with an offensive by a coalition of armed groups.

A pro-Russia rally in Bangui on March 5. The placard reads, 'Russia, the CAR is with you'. By Carol VALADE (AFP)

Touadera called on the Kremlin for help and hundreds of Russian paramilitaries came to join hundreds more already present since 2018, to rescue a destitute army.

These men -- described by Moscow as unarmed instructors but by the UN as mercenaries -- easily drove the armed groups out of the cities they occupied.

The rebels have since changed tactics, from occupation to guerrilla warfare.

But CAR's army and its Russian allies do not have the means to occupy the land and restore the authority of state for long -- unless there is a stable peace.

From next Monday and until Sunday March 27, CAR's National Assembly will host the Republican Dialogue, the stated aim of which is to "restore peace and security."

But in concrete terms, the goals of the talks remain unclear.

It was not until Thursday that the organisers released the agenda -- a list of five vaguely-worded "themes", including "Peace and Security" and "Political Governance, Democratic and Institutional Strengthening."

"The main objective is to constitute a republican forum around the values and principles of the Republic," declared Obed Namsio, president of the organising committee.

"This will lead to roadmaps, legal texts," added Albert Yaloke Mokpeme, spokesperson for the presidency.

Between 450 and 500 participants are expected, but many opposition leaders said they had still not received an invitation as of Thursday morning, and there was no list of invitees.

The list "will be announced on the radio in the coming days, it's a drawn-out task," Mokpeme told AFP.

Satisfy donors

The opposition says it has little idea about the purpose of the forum.

"We are looking for sincerity -- we want a political agreement that will make it possible to find peace," said Aurelien Simplice Zingas of the main opposition coalition, COD-2020.

"The public are suffering. We don't want just words but action," said Simplice Marigai, a 52-year-old handball teacher, in a street in Bangui.

Central African Republic. By (AFP)

Many passersby said they did not even know that the "Republican Dialogue" was to be held.

Thierry Vircoulon, a specialist in Central Africa at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), said the value of the Dialogue was that it was being held at all.

"(It) has two goals -- to let opposition figures to come home without facing arrest, and to satisfy one of the conditions set by international donors," he said.

"I don't think that the Dialogue changes anything in the country, but even if it's symbolic, it reassures the World Bank", said Roland Marchal of the International Research Centre (CERI) at the Sciences Po school in Paris.

But to realise the declared aim of "reconciliation" would require the participation of armed groups, he noted.

"We make peace with our enemies, not our friends," he observed.