CAR assembly elects new President as violence continues; EU to send troops
1 replies, posted
[img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/72399000/jpg/_72399826_72399739.jpg[/img]
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25811250[/url]
[quote]Bangui mayor Catherine Samba-Panza, 59, has been elected interim president of the Central African Republic, making her the first woman to hold the post.
She beat her rival Desire Kolingba in the second round of voting by the interim parliament.
Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers agreed at a meeting on Monday to send troops to CAR, diplomatic sources said.
...
"Starting today, I am the president of all Central Africans, without exclusion," she is quoted by AFP news agency as saying.
Ms Samba-Panza succeeds CAR's first Muslim leader Michel Djotodia, who resigned on 10 January under pressure from regional leaders and the former colonial power, France, over his failure to curb the conflict.
She is a Christian but the successful businesswoman is seen as politically neutral.
She was accepted by both sides when she was proposed as Bangui's mayor under the interim administration.[/quote]
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25810730[/url]
[quote]EU foreign ministers have agreed on a blueprint for sending hundreds of European troops to the Central African Republic to help quell violence there.
The EU "crisis management concept" is the first step towards sending a force.
Fighting between Muslims and Christians in CAR has driven nearly a million people from their homes.
Currently about 4,000 African troops and 1,600 French troops are trying to prevent more bloodshed in CAR. The cost of an EU mission is not yet clear.
Correspondents say an EU force of up to 1,000 troops is likely.[/quote]
It'd be interesting to see what a businesswoman can do to the economy and infrastructure if she curbs the violence.
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