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Thousands celebrated on the streets of Central African Republic’s capital after the news that interim President Michel Djotodia had caved in to international pressure and agreed to resign after failing to halt inter-religious violence.
The resignations of Djotodia and his Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye were announced yesterday in a statement issued at a two-day summit of the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC) in neighbouring Chad.
Talks to decide on new leadership will take place in Central African Republic, it said.
French Defence Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said he wished for the replacement to be announced “as soon as possible,” adding that “the aim is to move forward with elections before the end of the year.”
“We need the National Transitional Council, to find a provisional alternative,” he said.
Thousands of people have been killed and 1 million displaced by cycles of violence since abuses by Djotodia’s mainly Muslim rebels, known as Seleka, prompted the creation of Christian self-defence armed groups after he seized power in March.
Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Phillips said that religious tensions still seemed to be high, with Christian groups cheering and jeering the fall of the president, and that the resignations would not necessarily end the violence.
“The international community is going to have to react very quickly as there is no one regionally who can unite this country,” he said.
“The foreign troops are largely welcomed but they are not necessarily enough, the trouble in recent weeks and month has not just been in Bangui.”
With memories of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide stirred by the unrest, France sent hundreds of troops to its former colony last month to support African peacekeepers trying to keep the peace. But the killings have continued, and France repeatedly voiced its frustration with Djotodia’s government.
Djotodia and Tiangaye resigned after Central African Republic’s transitional assembly (CNT) was summoned to the Chad summit late on Thursday to decide on the country’s future.
Under an agreement brokered by the CEEAC last year, the CNT elected Djotodia to his position as interim president in April to take Central African Republic to elections, due at the end of this year.
“We take note of the resignation. It is up to the CNT to decide what happens now,” said French Foreign Ministry Romain Nadal’s spokesman. “France does not interfere in any case with this process.”
As news from the summit reached the capital, thousands of residents took to the streets, dancing, singing and honking horns in celebration. Cheers erupted at a camp for 100,000 displaced Christian civilians at the French-controlled airport.
There was some sporadic gunfire but there were no signs of the pro-Djotodia fighters who once dominated the city, Reuters news agency reported.
“It’s a new day for Central African Republic. God has heard our crying and our prayers,” said Jeanne, a 71-year-old woman in Bangui, outside a shop where she said her son was killed by Seleka in March.
France has 1,600 troops in the country, operating under a UN mandate to assist an African force that is due to be bolstered to 6,000 men. — Al Jazeera
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