News bulletin 71 (28 July - 4 August 2008)
Posted in BONUCA, Bouar, Central African Republic, bandits, disarmament, government, health, hiv, rebels, security, sitrep on Aug 5th, 2008 No Comments »
Highlights
- The Popular Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD) suspends its participation in the process leading up to the political dialogue.
- A barge crossing the Oubangui river in CAR, sank, killing 42.
Background and security
The APRD pulls out of the political dialogue
The President of the Popular Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD), Jean-Jacques Démafouth said in a press release that his organisation had suspended its participation in the process leading up to the political dialogue. Mr. Démafouth has also stated that the APRD had withdrown from a ceasefire and a global peace agreement signed on 9 May and 21 June 2008. The APRD made that resolution because they disapprove parts of a proposed general amnesty law.
Continue Reading »
It is a hot afternoon in Bouar – the sun is blazing down over the houses on the hill slopes that make up CAR’s third largest town. We are on a United Nations inter-agency mission in western CAR, near the border with Cameroon and right on the trading route which connects the landlocked capital Bangui with the Douala port in the neighbouring country. The objective is to assess the humanitarian situation in what was once one of the wealthier areas in CAR: indeed, a healthy cotton industry and a steady stream of visitors made it one of the country’s main economic hubs. 
