Regional leaders refuse to recognize Central African Republic coup leader

By Madjiasra Nako

N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - African heads of state on Wednesday refused to recognize rebel leader Michel Djotodia's self-appointment as president of Central African Republic, calling instead for the creation of a new transitional body to guide the country to elections.

The decision, taken at a summit of leaders from the central African region, further isolates Djotodia, who led thousands of insurgents into the former French colony's crumbling riverside capital Bangui on March 24, ousting President Francois Bozize.

"It seems impossible to us to recognize a man who has appointed himself," Chadian President Idriss Deby said following the summit in Chad's capital N'djamena.

Deby led troops into the Chadian capital and seized power in 1990. He has won four elections since then. Bozize himself seized power in Central African Republic in 2003.

African and Western leaders have already condemned the rebellion in the mineral-rich but chronically unstable nation. The African Union suspended Central African Republic and imposed sanctions on Djotodia while Washington said he was not a legitimate leader.

Djotodia has already tried to contain international condemnation by creating a transitional government headed by a civilian prime minister, Nicolas Tiangaye, and promising elections in three years.

A spokeswoman for Djotodia said earlier she hoped the new leadership in Bangui would get regional backing.

"What we want is support from the African Union and ECCAS (the 10-nation Economic Community of Central African States) for all of our plans to restore peace in the country ... We need legitimacy," said Anne Victoire Yakossobe.

But Deby said the summit had instead called for the creation of a transitional institution that would draw up a new constitution and prepare for elections within 18 months.

"We have in mind a college, a sort of executive that will be elected by all the social actors. This college will designate its president, which will be the president of Central African Republic," Deby said.

The decisions of the summit were greeted with cautious optimism by Central African Republic's political opposition, which has rejected the new government, saying it is stacked with Djotodia allies.

"We are waiting for the (regional) ministers to come explain the mechanisms that will be put in place. We want to know how this is going to work on the ground," opposition spokesman Edouard Kouyamounou told Reuters.

SOUTH AFRICAN WITHDRAWAL

Though organized by regional states, the summit included a delegation led by South African President Jacob Zuma, who is under growing pressure at home following the deaths of 13 South African soldiers during the March 24 onslaught.

The withdrawal of South African forces, in the country under agreements with Bozize, had been a demand of the rebels during peace talks with the government in Gabon earlier this year.

However Pretoria sent reinforcements to Bangui as the rebellion built up last month.

Those soldiers will now return home, Deby said.

"President Jacob Zuma announced to us his decision to withdraw South African troops, who had come to Central African Republic in the framework of a cooperation agreement," he said.

The killing of its soldiers has prompted questions about South African's role in the country, and how a military training mission there became entangled in an internal conflict.

South African media reports have suggested the soldiers were defending South African mining interests, but officials in Pretoria have denied this. They say the presence of the 400 South African troops was covered by a 2007 bilateral defense accord with Bozize.

(Additional reporting by Ed Cropley and Ange Aboa; Writing by Richard Valdmanis and Joe Bavier; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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Syria's Assad appeals to African summit for help

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria's increasingly isolated president appealed on Wednesday to the leaders of a five-nation economic forum meeting in South Africa to help end his country's two-year conflict.

Bashar Assad's appeal came a day after the Arab League endorsed Syria's Western-backed opposition coalition, delivering another blow to the regime in Damascus.

Assad sent a letter urging the leaders of the five nation BRICS forum — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — to "work for an immediate cessation of violence that would guarantee the success of the political solution" in Syria. The World Bank says these countries are driving global economic growth.

"This requires a clear international will to dry up the sources of terrorism and stop its funding and arming," Assad said in the letter, which was carried by Syrian state media on Wednesday.

Assad said Syria is subjected to "acts of terrorism backed by Arab, regional and Western nations" — a reference to the Western-backed opposition fighting his regime.

Attempts to end Syria's crisis through peaceful means have so far failed to make progress. The opposition, including the main Syrian National Coalition, says it will accept nothing less than Assad's departure from power while his government has vowed to continue the battle until its troops crush the rebel forces.

On Tuesday, Syria's opposition for the first time took over the country's seat in the Arab League at a summit in Qatar in a diplomatic triumph by Assad's opponents.

The opposition's ascension to the League further demonstrated the extent of the regime's isolation two years into a ferocious civil war that the U.N. says has killed an estimated 70,000 people.

And in a further show of solidarity with anti-Assad forces, the summit in Qatar endorsed the "right of each state" to provide the Syrian people and the rebel Free Syrian Army with "all necessary means to ... defend themselves, including military means."

But the opposition alliance is marred by severe divisions among its ranks, and often disconnected from the rebel forces fighting inside Syria, so it's not immediately clear how the developments in Qatar would translate on the ground.

At the gathering in the South African resort of Durban, President Jacob Zuma and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, were asked Tuesday whether they would use their influence to persuade Assad to allow unimpeded U.N. humanitarian access across all Syria's borders, as leading activists from BRICS countries have asked for.

Zuma ignored the question while Putin, in a throwaway remark, said: "We will think about it." Earlier, the Russian president said the forum's leaders would jointly "work for a peaceful resolution to the Syrian crisis.

BRICS countries, including Assad's key ally Russia, oppose foreign intervention in Syria and accuse the West of trying to force regime change. Russia, China and South Africa have also voted against U.N. Security Council resolutions on Syria.

In his letter, Assad criticized European and U.S. sanctions imposed on his regime and urged BRICS leaders to "exert every possible effort to lift the suffering of the Syrian people that were caused by the sanctions."

He said the sanctions are "directly effecting the lives of our people," an apparent reference to shortages of goods and soaring prices.

In Syria, activist groups reported violence in different areas in the country on Wednesday, including Damascus and its suburbs and the southern Quneitra region along the cease-fire line separating Syria from Israeli-occupied Gold Heights.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees reported clashes and shelling in Quneitra villages of Bir Ajam, Rasm al-Hawa and Ein el-Darb. The Observatory said rebels overran three army posts near Bir Ajam on Wednesday.

The area near Golan Heights, a strategic goal of the rebels, has been the scene of heavy clashes for days.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, also reported an air raid by Assad's air force on the town of Qusair near the border with Lebanon as well as aerial attacks on the Damascus neighborhood of Qaboun.

Syria's crisis began in March 2011 with protests demanding Assad's ouster. Following a harsh government crackdown, the uprising steadily grew more violent until it became a full-fledged civil war.

___

Mroue reported from Beirut.

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African linked to extremist group sentenced in NYC

NEW YORK (AP) — An East African man has been sentenced in New York to just over nine years in prison for conspiring to support terrorism by associating with a violent extremist group in Somalia.

Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to nine years and three months in prison. He had pleaded guilty in June.

Ahmed was detained in Nigeria in 2009 before being turned over to U.S. authorities. Prosecutors in New York had accused the Eritrean (ehr-ih-TREE'-uhn) man of receiving explosives training, buying an assault rifle and raising money for al-Shabaab.

Al-Shabaab was designated by the United States as a terrorist group in 2008. Manhattan's top federal prosecutor said in a release that Ahmed traveled thousands of miles to align himself with al-Shabaab and aid their campaign of terror.

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U.N.'s Ban recommends African troops in Mali become peacekeepers

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - An African force currently in Mali should be converted into a U.N. peacekeeping operation and a separate combat force should be created to confront Islamist threats, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recommended to the Security Council on Tuesday.

The U.N.-backed African force in Mali is due to take over from France when it starts withdrawing its 4,000 troops from the country in late April.

In a report to the 15-member Security Council, Ban recommended that the African force, known as AFISMA, become a U.N. peacekeeping force of some 11,200 troops and 1,440 police - once major combat ends.

To tackle Islamist extremists directly, Ban recommended that a so-called parallel force be created, which would work in close coordination with the U.N. mission.

Diplomats have said France is likely to provide troops for the smaller parallel force, which could be based in Mali or elsewhere in the West Africa region.

"Given the anticipated level and nature of the residual threat, there would be a fundamental requirement for a parallel force to operate in Mali alongside the U.N. mission in order to conduct major combat and counter-terrorism operations," Ban wrote.

The parallel force would not have a formal U.N. mandate, though it would be operating with the informal blessing of the Security Council. The report did not specify a time limit for the mission.

The Security Council was due to be briefed on Wednesday on Ban's recommendations and diplomats hope a vote to approve the peacekeeping force can take place by mid-April.

France began a military offensive in January to drive out Islamist fighters, who had hijacked a revolt by Mali's Tuareg rebels and seized two-thirds of the West African country. Paris said Mali's vast desert North was in danger of becoming a springboard for extremist attacks on the region and the West.

In a nine-week operation French, Chadian and Malian troops have driven the Islamists into desert hideaways and mountains near the Algerian border. French President Francois Hollande said recently that Mali's sovereignty had almost been restored.

However, Islamist fighters attacked northern Mali's largest town, Gao, over the weekend. It was the third major offensive there by the rebels since the town was retaken by a French-led military operation in late January.

CHILD RECRUITS

The African force in Mali is made up of troops mainly from West Africa, including more than 2,000 Chadians. Other than Chad's contingent, most African elements remain in the south of Mali away from the fighting.

The United Nations would only take on security responsibilities in Mali when "the necessary security and political conditions were deemed to be in place, following an assessment by the (U.N.) Secretariat."

Mali's government hopes to hold elections in July, but Security Council diplomats and U.N. officials said that goal may be overly ambitious.

Ban said that once the African soldiers become a U.N. peacekeeping force, the majority of the troops and police would operate in the north of the country, while there would be a "light presence" based in the country's capital, Bamako.

"The force would operate under robust rules of engagement, with a mandate to use all necessary means to address threats to the implementation of its mandate, which would include protection of civilians," Ban said.

"This could include the conduct of operations on its own or in cooperation with the Malian ... forces," he said.

Ban also suggested that the Security Council consider establishing an independent group of experts to investigate transnational and organized crime in Mali with the possibility of imposing punitive, targeted sanctions.

Mali was once viewed as an example of a working democracy in Africa, but its north has been a center of cross-desert trafficking of drugs, stolen goods and Western hostages. Border towns are used as transit hubs for trans-Sahara cocaine and hashish smuggling.

Ban raised serious concerns in the report about human rights violations being committed in northern Mali, including summary executions, illegal arrests and forced disappearances, use of children by armed groups, rape, forced marriages and looting.

"Hundreds of children have been recruited by all of the armed groups active in the north, including AQUIM (al Qaeda's north African wing), Ansar Dine, MUJAO and the MNLA," he said.

"The capture and detention of children for intelligence purposes is also an emerging trend that needs to be addressed as a matter of the utmost urgency," Ban wrote.

(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

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African sentenced to 11 years in child labor case

DETROIT (AP) — A former tennis pro accused of fraudulently bringing four children from the African nation of Togo to the U.S. and forcing them to work as slaves in his Michigan home was sentenced Monday to more than 11 years in federal prison.

Jean-Claude Toviave, who didn't apologize when provided the opportunity to speak at his sentencing hearing in Detroit, also was ordered to pay two of the children $60,000 each.

Prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Arthur Tarnow to sentence Toviave to the maximum sentence within the guidelines, and he did, handing down a 135-month sentence, with credit for about two years of time served.

"I can't get a read on you," Tarnow told Toviave. "I can't tell if you understand what you did was really wrong."

The four children emigrated from Togo in 2006 with fraudulent immigration paperwork that listed them as being Toviave's biological children, which they are not. He enrolled some of them in middle school when they arrived. They now range in age from teenagers to young adults.

The victims said Toviave beat them with toilet plungers, broomsticks and electrical cords and starved them if they didn't follow his orders. They were forced to vacuum, iron, cook, clean and shine shoes at the home in Ypsilanti, near Ann Arbor, for nearly five years until January 2011.

In a court filing, prosecutors said the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Toviave, who was a tennis pro in Togo until 1990, "savagely" beat the children if their chores weren't finished or completed to his satisfaction.

One victim said he suffered permanent damage to his vision and persistent headaches tied to an episode in which Toviave kicked him and punched him in the face.

Two of the victims were in the courtroom during sentencing, but declined to speak.

Victim statements were entered into the record, however, and one was read aloud by a representative.

"The physical torture, beating me and starving me, you inflicted was so painful that I prayed at night that God would either help me to be free or allow your assaults to kill me," wrote the unnamed victim. "The pain is something I will never forget. In the midst of your verbal and physical assaults, you worked the four of us to death."

The victim wrote that although Toviave's actions made it so that he "can no longer trust anyone" and he wakes "from nightmares on a regular basis that involve me being back under your care," he participates in several sports at his school, is president of the student council and has vowed to become a doctor one day.

"My future is very exciting," the victim wrote.

When given the chance to speak before sentencing, Toviave recounted traveling to Ghana in 2007 to visit his sick mother. After the hearing had ended, Toviave asked Tarnow if he could say something else. Tarnow said OK, but Toviave then decided against it.

A jury convicted Toviave of four counts of forced labor in October. He previously pleaded guilty to fraud and misuse of visas, mail fraud and harboring aliens.

Along with restitution, Tarnow ordered Toviave to pay $7,200 to two victims to be used toward counseling, but both the judge and defense lawyer Randall Roberts, who called his client "penniless," said it seemed unlikely Toviave would be able to come up with the money.

Roberts, who asked Tarnow to sentence Toviave to four years, said the judge's sentence "was as tough as it comes."

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Central African Republic rebel chief to name power-sharing government

By Ange Aboa and Paul-Marin Ngoupana

BANGUI (Reuters) - The leader of rebels in Central African Republic pledged to name a power-sharing government in a bid to defuse international criticism of a coup that killed 13 South African soldiers and has plunged the mineral-rich nation into chaos.

Regional peacekeepers said that leader of the Seleka rebel coalition, self-proclaimed president Michel Djotodia, appealed for their help in restoring order after his own men joined in a second day of looting on Monday in the riverside capital Bangui.

The rebels' ousting of President Francois Bozize on Sunday was condemned by the United Nations and African Union. But in a sign of pragmatism, the United States, France and regional powerbroker Chad called on the insurgents to respect a January peace deal creating a unity government.

Some 5,000 Seleka fighters swept into the capital on Sunday after a lightning offensive in which they fought their way from the far north to the presidential palace in four days after the collapse of the power-sharing deal, the Libreville Accord.

Neighboring Cameroon confirmed on Monday that Bozize had arrived there but said it was not giving him permanent refuge.

The removal of Bozize, who had himself seized power in a coup backed by Chad in 2003, was just the latest of many rebellions since the poor, landlocked country won independence from France in 1960.

"We will lead the people of Central African Republic during a three-year transition period, in accordance with the Libreville Accord," Djotodia said in a recorded statement issued to reporters. It was not broadcast due to power cuts.

January's peace deal signed at Libreville, the capital of Gabon, was drafted by regional mediators after the rebels has besieged Bangui in December. The accord had created a government drawn from Bozize loyalists, rebels and the civilian opposition.

Djotodia said that civilian opposition representative Nicolas Tiangaye would remain in place as prime minister.

The U.N. Security Council on Monday called for all parties to refrain from violence against civilians, the restoration of the rule of law, constitutional order and the implementation of the Libreville deal. The council said it would monitor the situation and was ready to consider further steps if necessary.

In Bangui, 600,000 residents of the capital remained without power and running water for a third day. Despite a curfew, there was widespread pillaging of offices, public buildings and businesses by rebels and civilians.

"Public order is the biggest problem right now," said General Jean Felix Akaga, commander of the regional African peacekeeping force. "Seleka's leaders are struggling to control their men. The president has asked us to help restore calm."

He said rebels would be confined to barracks from Monday.

International aid group Doctors Without Borders said its offices in Bangui and elsewhere in the country had been looted, and urged all sides to ensure people had access to health care.

'SAD MOMENT' FOR SOUTH AFRICA

With France's military contingent refusing to intervene, two heavily armed columns of insurgents in pick-up trucks stormed into Bangui the previous day, brushing aside a South African force of 400 troops which attempted to block their path.

South African President Jacob Zuma said at least 13 soldiers were killed and 27 others wounded in the fighting, the worst military setback for Pretoria since the end of apartheid in 1994 and an embarrassing snub to its efforts to project its power in the resource-rich heart of Africa.

"It is a sad moment for our country," Zuma said, adding that another soldier was still missing.

"The actions of these bandits will not deter us from our responsibility of working for peace and stability in Africa."

Zuma said South Africa had yet to decided whether to pull out its force, which he said had inflicted heavy casualties on the rebels during a nine-hour attack on the South African base.

"This is complete disaster for South Africa," said Thierry Vircoulon, Central African specialist at the International Crisis Group. "They did not at all understand they were backing the wrong horse. They did not consult within the region."

French troops patrolling the international airport in the capital killed two Indian citizens when three vehicles tried to enter the facility, France's defense ministry said.

Seleka, a loose coalition of five rebel groups whose name means "alliance" in the Songo language, was formed last year after Bozize had failed to implement power-sharing in the wake of disputed 2011 elections boycotted by the opposition.

It resumed hostilities on Thursday after military leaders of the group detained its five members of Bozize's government and accused the president of violating January's peace deal by failing to integrate 2,000 of its fighters into the army.

"The movements that make up Seleka have a long history of divisions," Vircoulon said. "The cohesion of Seleka will be tested now they are in full control."

Despite rich deposits of gold, diamonds and uranium, Central African Republic remains one of the world's least developed and most unstable nations.

Bozize rose in the military during the 1966-1979 rule of dictator Jean-Bedel Bokassa, a self-styled emperor found guilty of the murder of schoolchildren and other crimes.

In recent years, Bozize's government had hosted U.S. Special Forces helping regional armies hunt down the Lord's Resistance Army rebels, led by a Ugandan warlord, who have killed thousands of civilians during decades of conflict.

FRENCH NATIONALS SAFE

Paris, which already had 250 soldiers in Central African Republic, has sent another 300 troops to ensure the security of its citizens and diplomatic missions.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said there was no need to evacuate the 1,200 French nationals, most of whom are in the capital. "Things are under control from our point of view regarding French nationals," Fabius told Europe 1 radio.

French President Francois Hollande spoke to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Chadian President Idriss Deby to suggest that any solution to the crisis should be based on the Libreville agreement, Fabius added.

"For now, there is no legitimate authority there," he said, adding that France did not see it as its place to intervene.

France offered its condolences to India for the killing of Indian civilians and Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was due to speak with his Indian counterpart in the coming hours, the defense ministry said in a statement.

The U.S. State Department also called on Seleka to ensure the implementation of the Libreville agreement and provide full support to Tiangaye's government. Regional military power Chad said the same in a statement on Sunday.

(Additional reporting by Leigh Thomas in Paris, Richard Valdmanis in Dakar and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Writing by Daniel Flynn and David Lewis; Editing by Peter Graff, Anna Willard, Alastair Macdonald and Cynthia Osterman)

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Rebels capture Central African Republic capital, president flees

By Paul-Marin Ngoupana

BANGUI (Reuters) - Rebels in Central African Republic seized the riverside capital Bangui in fierce fighting on Sunday, forcing President Francois Bozize to flee and sowing confusion over who rules the mineral-rich heart of Africa.

At least nine South African soldiers were killed trying to prevent the rebels from taking Bangui, a Reuters witness said, dealing a blow to Pretoria's attempt to stabilize the chaotic central African nation and assert its influence in the region.

The Seleka rebel coalition resumed hostilities on Thursday in the former French colony and quickly swept south to Bangui with the aim of ousting Bozize, whom it accused of breaking a January peace deal to integrate its fighters into the army.

"We have taken the presidential palace," Eric Massi, a Seleka spokesman, told Reuters by telephone early on Sunday.

Government officials confirmed the rebels had captured the city of more than 600,000 people, which lies on the banks of the Oubangi river bordering Democratic Republic of Congo.

The violence is the latest in a series of rebel incursions, clashes and coups that have plagued the landlocked nation - which has rich yet underexploited deposits of gold, diamonds and uranium - since independence from France in 1960.

Bozize rose to prominence in the military during the 1966-1979 rule of former dictator Jean-Bedel Bokassa, a self-styled emperor. Bozize seized power in a 2003 coup but his failure to make good on promises of power sharing after winning disputed 2011 polls led to the offensive by five rebel groups known as Seleka, which means "alliance" in the Sango language.

Seleka leader Michel Djotodia, named as deputy prime minister after January's peace deal, proclaimed himself interim president on Sunday, the movement's Secretary-General Justin Kombo told Reuters.

France's RFI radio said Djotodia had asked Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye to lead a government to the next elections, scheduled for three years' time. He also imposed a curfew in Bangui, where residents reported widespread pillaging.

"The looting is bad. Both the population and Seleka are involved," said one senior U.N. official in Bangui. "We are not sure who is in charge. I don't think it is clear yet."

France, which already had 250 soldiers in Central African Republic, has sent another 300 troops from Gabon since Friday to ensure the security of French citizens and diplomatic installations in Bangui, according to the defense ministry.

CALLS FOR SWIFT ELECTIONS

Chadian President Idriss Deby, a regional power broker, recognized in a statement on Sunday that Seleka controlled the country and ordered regional peacekeepers to help restore security to the capital.

Djotodia's announcement was rejected by some members of his own loose rebel coalition - several of whom are former rivals.

"We are not there to take power by force. We'll put in place a transitional authority of 18 months then go to elections," said Nelson Ndjadder, spokesman for Seleka's CPSK faction.

Martin Ziguele, a former prime minister and president of the civilian opposition MLPC, said he would support Djotodia as interim president provided the transition lasted only one year.

The African Union condemned the rebels' seizure of power, calling for "unified, decisive action" from its members and threatening the country with suspension from the body and Seleka's members with targeted sanctions.

The whereabouts of Bozize - who seized power in a 2003 coup backed by neighboring Chad - were uncertain. A presidential advisor said he had crossed the river into Congo on Sunday morning as rebel forces headed for the presidential palace.

Congo's information minister said Bozize's wife and children - including his eldest son Francis, the former head of defense - were flown out of the Congolese border town of Zongo by the U.N. peacekeeping mission. But he said the ousted president was not among them: "Bozize is not in Democratic Republic of Congo."

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius confirmed Bozize had fled Bangui, but gave no details of his whereabouts. He appealed to France's 1,200 citizens in the country to remain calm and stay in their homes.

The city remained without electricity and water as night fell on Sunday after the Seleka forces - who had seized the nearby town of Boali with its electricity station - turned off the power a day earlier.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said the outages were hindering medical staff attempting to care for the many injured arriving at the city's hospitals.

France has only limited economic interests in the turbulent country. French nuclear giant Areva shuttered its Bakouma uranium project for two years in 2011 following a fall in uranium prices after the Fukushima disaster.

NINE SOUTH AFRICANS DEAD

Seleka's forces had fought their way to the northern suburbs of Bangui late on Saturday before an overnight lull in the fighting. Residents said heavy weapons fire erupted across the city around 8 a.m.

Seleka's Massi said the rebels had broken through a line of South African soldiers during their push into the city. Around 400 South African troops were deployed in the country as military trainers.

"I saw the bodies of six South African soldiers. They had all been shot," a Reuters witness said. Later, he saw three more bodies in burned-out South African military vehicles.

Regional peacekeeping sources said the South Africans had fought alongside the Central African Republic's army on Saturday to prevent rebels entering the capital.

South African army spokesman Brigadier-General Xolani Mabanga confirmed that the country's contingent in Bangui had sustained casualties when they came under attack on Saturday, but he declined to give further details.

A source with the United Nations in Bangui said the South Africans had asked for assistance from French forces to help them leave the country.

Several peacekeepers from the Central African regional force, including three Chadians, were also killed on Saturday, when a helicopter operated by Bozize's forces attacked them, Chad's presidency said in a statement.

Seleka's CPSK faction spokesman, Ndjadder, called upon fighters and the population to stay calm and avoid looting.

A Reuters witness, however, saw youths pillaging houses -including the residence of Bozize's son, Francis - in the northern part of the city.

Rebel fighters directed looters towards the houses of army officers but fired their rifles in the air to protect the homes of ordinary citizens, the witness said.

Seleka fought its way to the gates of Bangui last year after accusing Bozize of violating an earlier peace deal to give its fighters cash and jobs in exchange for laying down their arms.

(Additional by Daniel Flynn and David Lewis in Dakar, Lionel Laurent and John Irish in Paris, Ange Aboa in Lome, Bienvenu Bakumanya in Kinshasa, and Madjiasra Nako in N'Djamena; writing by Joe Bavier and Daniel Flynn; Editing by Jason Webb and Sandra Maler)

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