PRESS BRIEFING ON CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

At the beginning of the New Year, a top priority for the United Nations Peace-building Support Office in the Central African Republic was to prevent the resumption of generalized conflict in that country, the Secretary-General's Special Representative told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing today.

Lamine Cisse, who also heads the United Nations Peace-building Support Office in the Central African Republic -- known as BONUCA -- said that last October, rebels attempted to "capture the captor" and were still active in parts of the North.  Both the Secretary-General and the Security Council were on record as opposing the use of force to capture power.

There was also a need to stabilize bilateral relations between the Central African Republic and its neighbors, in particular Chad, he said.  Violent incidents had recently occurred along the Chad/Central African Republic border, creating new zones of tension for a country already bogged down by internal problems.  In that connection, BONUCA was working closely with regional institutions, in particular, the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), as well as the African Union.

Poverty remained a major challenge for the sustainable stabilization of the Central African Republic, Mr. Cisse added.  While the Central African Republic was not a poor country, it had to be better managed to attract and maintain investor confidence and donor support.

The Central African Republic was located in a troubled subregion and was surrounded by countries, which, with the exception of Cameroon, were either in, or emerging from conflict, he said.  The Central African Republic was often impacted by those conflicts.  Forces from one of the rebel movements in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo were currently in the Central African Republic, assisting the Government of that country in coping with threats from Central African Republic rebel forces.  

The United Nations had played a key role in efforts to stabilize the Central African Republic since 1998, when it deployed a peacekeeping force in that country.  Following the withdrawal in February 2000 of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA) at the conclusion of its mandate, BONUCA was set up to consolidate progress made during the peacekeeping phase. 

Among the provisions of its mandate, Mr. Cisse said that BONUCA was established to support national efforts to reinforce national unity and reconciliation and to promote political dialogue.  In that respect, the Office would have to reinforce the Follow-up and Arbitration Committee to contribute to the strengthening of national capacities for the promotion of human rights and to follow up on the political and security situation. 

Other provisions of BONUCA's mandate included support for the Government's efforts to organize police training, he said.  The Office also supported the

United Nations Resident Coordinator and other United Nations agencies, including the World Bank, in promoting an integrated approach to the implementation of post-conflict peace consolidation.  That approach centered on national reconstruction, economic strengthening, the fight against poverty and good management of public affairs. 

The United Nations Peace-building Support Office also facilitated the mobilization of international political support and resources for security related reforms and socio-economic programmes, Mr. Cisse said.  In that respect, BONUCA regularly advised the Secretary-General so that he could make certain initiatives and suggestions to the Security Council.

A correspondent asked Mr. Cisse to comment on a letter from the Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United Nations to the Secretary-General in which he accused Libya of using the Central African Republic as a base to attack his country.

Mr. Cisse said that President Patasse had called Libya on a bilateral basis to help him during the attempted coup d'etat by former President Kolingba in May 2001.  Libya had been there to protect the President.  Twice, in November 2001 and October 2002, Libya had been active in helping the Government to fight the rebels.  During the last attempted coup d'etat by General Bozize, Libya had participated on the ground in fighting the rebels and there had been plans for bilateral cooperation.  When the situation intensified, Libya withdrew its plans.  Jean-Pierre Bemba, leader of the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC), said was that Libya was not supporting him.  Libya also said that it had no plans to support Mr. Bemba.  Libyan troops had withdrawn from the Central African Republic in October.  Troops from Djibouti and Sudan had also withdrawn.

Asked to comment further on the matter, Mr. Cisse said that Libyan troops had been in the Central African Republic.  He could not confirm if the Libyan troops were in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  He did know, however, that Mr. Bemba had said that there were no Libyan troops in his area.  While the questions were legitimate, he could not officially say that Libya was involved in the problem of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for the time being.

How long would it take for people to realize that peacekeeping operations were not going to solve Africa's problems? a correspondent asked.

While it was true that the United Nations had been in Africa since the 1960s, it had also been involved in other parts of the world before that time, Mr. Cisse said.  In 1948, Ralph Bunch had been in Cyprus and that problem had not yet been solved.  African countries had gained independence in the 1960s.  Before that, coup d'etats and destabilization was more frequent in Latin America than in Africa.  It was a question of relativity, and not of something particular to Africa. 

If the decolonization process had been properly carried out in Africa, he added, there might not have been so many destabilized zones.  Since the United Nations was responsible for global security, peacekeeping forces must be deployed wherever there was work to be done.  Democratization and respect for

human rights must be reinforced and African countries must be helped in solving their financial and economic problems.

Asked to comment on the possibility of a United Nations intervention force in the Central African Republic, Mr. Cisse said that MINURCA had already done its job, carrying out elections in 1999.  Peace had been established.  After MINURCA's departure, a small, political bureau -- BONUCA -- had been established.  One of BONUCA's most important goals was to reinforce respect for human rights.  It was a peace-building, peace-strengthening office, which dealt with many aspects of life in the country. 

A national dialogue was currently underway in the Central African Republic, he continued.  The Office had proposed that instead of designating a mediator, the President designate a committee to coordinate and encourage the national dialogue.  The opposition political parties and trade unions had accepted the idea.  The President had designated two people to contact the various actors to create the committee.  If the committee were to be situated outside of the Central African Republic, it might be in Gabon, as President Bongo chaired the Ad Hoc Committee of Heads of State of CEMAC for the Resumption of Dialogue in the Central African Republic.  The coordinators of the Committee had already started meeting at BONUCA's office.  

Asked whether he was optimistic about the outcome of the dialogue, Mr. Cisse said since 1993 the country had undergone six attempted coup d'etats.  The holding of a national dialogue was a positive step.  There were questions to be solved -- for example, what to do with the former President Kolingba and others who had been given the death penalty?  Would they be granted "presidential grace" by the National Assembly?  The committee would have to tackle those sensitive problems.

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