By Michael Ireland, Senior Reporter, ASSIST News Service, answritermike@gmail.com
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (ANS, Oct.5, 2015) -- One of the top three religious leaders in the Central African Republic (CAR), who has won global recognition for his efforts to end the conflict, has escaped an assassination attempt, as the capital, Bangui, has seen a renewed wave of violence.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (ANS, Oct.5, 2015) -- One of the top three religious leaders in the Central African Republic (CAR), who has won global recognition for his efforts to end the conflict, has escaped an assassination attempt, as the capital, Bangui, has seen a renewed wave of violence.
Coming just a few weeks before a
planned referendum and subsequent October elections aimed at putting an
end to the transitional government, this violence has now caused the
interim President to cancel the elections.
According to an article by Illia Djadi, writing for World Watch Monitor, www.worldwatchmonitor.org,
the President of CAR’s Evangelical Alliance, Rev. Nicolas
Guerekoyame-Gbangou, was targeted in an attack apparently triggered by
the death of a young Muslim motorcycle taxi driver. His body was found
in the predominantly Christian 5th district on Saturday, September 26,
then taken to a mosque in the 3rd district, known also as Km5 – formerly
considered by many as a stronghold of Séléka rebels, and a "no-go zone"
for all non-Muslims.
World Watch Monitor says who killed the young taxi-driver and why are still unknown.
In its report, World watch
monitor says that at about 9am on September 26, angry Muslim youths left
the 3rd district and poured into the 5th district, brandishing
automatic weapons, machetes, and raiding and destroying properties. They
entered the Elim Church compound, where Rev. Guerekoyame-Gbangou’s
house is located, asking for him.
"I left the compound at about
8.30. But some 30 minutes later, a group of young Muslims arrived at my
house," Rev. Guerekoyame-Gbangou told World Watch Monitor.
"The assailants asked for
‘pastor Nicolas, who is pro-peace … but who always attacks us’. But they
learned that I had already left the house,” the pastor said.
"They then told my family to
leave the property. One of the assailants brandished a knife and
threated to kill my older son, but another assailant prevented him from
doing it."
World Watch Monitor reports the
angry mob then looted all valuable items, before setting fire to the
house. The assailants also ransacked other buildings in the compound,
setting fire to them, and shooting randomly.
"Unfortunately they killed two
people before leaving the compound," said Rev. Guerekoyame-Gbangou. "The
victims, who had their throats cut, were displaced people who had
sought refuge within our compound."
Rev. Guerekoyame-Gbangou’s family was unharmed and has moved to an undisclosed safe place, the news outlet said.
World
Watch Monitor explained that CAR had experienced religious and ethnic
unrest between mainly Muslim Séléka rebels and mainly animist
"anti-balaka" militia for more than two years since Séléka seized power
in March 2013. It was believed that the country was recovering after
reconciliation efforts by the top Muslim and Christian clerics, which
had led to them receiving a peace award in August.
The violence, the worst the capital has experienced this year, has dashed Bangui’s fragile stability, the news outlet said.
World Watch Monitor also said
that early on the afternoon of September 26, "anti-balaka"
("anti-machete") militias started fighting back, leading to their deadly
clashes with Muslim armed groups and ex- Séléka rebels. Witnesses
reported people slaughtered or shot at close range, corpses littering
the ground or thrown into wells. Places of worship and homes were looted
and burned.
The news outlet reported the
Catholic Saint Michel church was set ablaze, while Saint Mathias Parish
church was ransacked and desecrated. A mosque and a Muslim radio
headquarters were also attacked, as well as several international
humanitarian organizations’ offices, whose relief stock and materials
were looted.
Then news outlet said the
violence continued despite a night curfew imposed by the authorities;
the tension was still high with sporadic gun and weapon detonations
heard on Tuesday. The violence caused President Samba-Panza to leave the
UN General Assembly to rush home.
World Watch Monitor reported
the UN said on Tuesday that at least 40 people have lost their lives
since September 26, and nearly 30,000 people were forced to flee. But
the death toll could be much higher, local sources told World Watch
Monitor, as more bodies may be discovered, and hundreds are feared to be
injured.
The news outlet said Rule of
law was dealt a further blow when some 500 inmates broke out of the
central prison in Bangui. Most of them are "anti-balaka," according to
the BBC.
While deploring this new wave
of violence, Rev. Guerekoyame-Gbangou said that the attack which
targeted him will not undermine his commitment to peace in CAR.
"Any commitment has a price. As a pastor and ambassador of peace, I
cannot focus on my interests as a person, or my family," he said.
"The interest of the Central
African people is the most important, provided that we are successful in
our mission to reconcile the Central Africans and bring peace."
The other two members of the
interfaith platform – the Archbishop of Bangui, Msgr. Dieudonné
Nzapalainga and Imam Omar Kobine Layama, the President of the Islamic
Community of Central Africa – have also appealed for calm and restraint.
In addition to the violence,
World Watch Monitor stated that hundreds of people demonstrated to
express their discontent against French troops, accused of inertia over
armed groups – responsible, the demonstrators said, for the violence.
The news agency explained that
opposition parties called for mass demonstrations on Wednesday, Sept.
30, against the UN and French forces to make way for the reconstitution
of the national armed forces, the resignation of the interim President
and the start of a new transition.
Rev. Guerekoyame-Gbangou said
an urgent priority is to disarm the militias and to restore the national
armed forces, to enable them to play their task of protecting the
country from inter-communal violence.
Main Image: Rev. Nicolas Guerekoyame-Gbangou (World Watch Monitor)
Other photo on this page : Left
to right: Imam Omar Kobine Layama, Msgr. Dieudonné Nzapalainga and Rev.
Nicolas Guerekoyame-Gbangou collect their awards at the UN in
Switzerland in August, 2015. (Courtesy World Watch Monitor).
Photo Three: Michael Ireland
About the Writer: Michael
Ireland is a Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, as well
as a volunteer Internet Journalist and Ordained Minister who has served
with ASSIST Ministries and ASSIST News Service since its beginning in
1989. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel,
Jordan, China, and Russia. Click http://paper.li/Michael_ASSIST/1410485204 to see a daily digest of Michael's stories for ANS.
** You may republish this and any of ANS stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net)
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar