News for today's 2018

<br /> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOvUG5xAP_A7CGYXyWn0VGOYpEGwLBjfIGocaid0RiM_vAil87FYJPMJoAWi2pp0W2RHK_e3Vv7ZH1f5W1MzbRkNpK3Ec1U7OlBb6UKueI7x07WML-ixybKdCXJ1n6fWefC59VMnh0Bj_h/s1600/grunge_flag_of_central_african_republic_by_al_zoro-d4pu4ny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOvUG5xAP_A7CGYXyWn0VGOYpEGwLBjfIGocaid0RiM_vAil87FYJPMJoAWi2pp0W2RHK_e3Vv7ZH1f5W1MzbRkNpK3Ec1U7OlBb6UKueI7x07WML-ixybKdCXJ1n6fWefC59VMnh0Bj_h/s400/grunge_flag_of_central_african_republic_by_al_zoro-d4pu4ny.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">FRANCE WANTS ACTION ON CENTRAL AFRICA “SECTARIAN POISON”</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Source: Trust Org</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FRANCE’S foreign minister heads to the CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (CAR) aiming to drum up international interest for a largely forgotten crisis that risks dragging Paris into a new military intervention in one of its former colonies.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44kdjQ4qHAnajdtr9lJjbr7ND3tHbyhpaWs591H21wOeegmPtjpwp8rcvDX1uOiusyF8UqToisrR1gb1bG6dWKpdOnhbv2D7HzUfFvtCao0aAS7nFgBDPzY_AgVSGoF1z2DXsJ4D1Ctb8/s1600/2013_10$largeimg214_Oct_2013_061531370.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44kdjQ4qHAnajdtr9lJjbr7ND3tHbyhpaWs591H21wOeegmPtjpwp8rcvDX1uOiusyF8UqToisrR1gb1bG6dWKpdOnhbv2D7HzUfFvtCao0aAS7nFgBDPzY_AgVSGoF1z2DXsJ4D1Ctb8/s320/2013_10$largeimg214_Oct_2013_061531370.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The nation has descended into chaos since mostly Muslim Seleka rebels ousted President Francois Bozize in March, the latest coup in the country that remains one of the world’s poorest despite resources ranging from gold to uranium.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FRANCE has urged world and regional powers not to ignore a conflict that has already seen more than 400,000 people driven from their homes by acts of violence such as murder and rape.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FRANCE RELUCTANT TO BE LEFT ALONE TO DEAL WITH ANOTHER AFRICAN HOTSPOT – MALI, CHAD AND NOW the CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Paris is reluctant to be left to deal with another AFRICAN hotspot after it felt allies such as the UNITED STATES were hesitant to help it halt a rebel advance by al Qaeda-linked insurgents in MALI earlier this year.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“There is an explosive cocktail in CAR and we fear this country will become a magnet for all the armed groups in the region,” a FRENCH diplomatic source said ahead of Laurent Fabius’ trip to the capital Bangui, the first by a FRENCH foreign minister in more than 10 years.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While CAR is rich in minerals, that wealth is largely unexploited thanks to decades of instability and the spillover from conflicts in larger neighbours including SUDAN to the east and the DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO to the south.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mercenaries from CHAD, MALI and SUDAN already form a large portion of Seleka rebels. Janjaweed Arab fighters from Darfur are present. Members of the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army, which UGANDA accuses Khartoum of backing, have set up in the country.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information: </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">FRENCH MILITARY INTERVENTION IN MALI ALSO REVEALED THE RELUCTANCE OF COUNTRIES TO SHARE THE BURDEN FOR PROVIDING SECURITY IN THE SAHEL </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">read entire article at:</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/07/eu-involvement-in-mali.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/07/eu-involvement-in-mali.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTpti-QgQ6eDHhG5sWhHaYKIiD5DRAcXJo9z3U3Q2LKHmW7BW8PMmipGRNmPagpl_18zBE1rC8qyt60UKyyJg-eBb7h1d6a3tosb_Jp2VCemAm-9k01J4J45wnD8y8kqVoqXZyRnNtZppS/s1600/africa_pol00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTpti-QgQ6eDHhG5sWhHaYKIiD5DRAcXJo9z3U3Q2LKHmW7BW8PMmipGRNmPagpl_18zBE1rC8qyt60UKyyJg-eBb7h1d6a3tosb_Jp2VCemAm-9k01J4J45wnD8y8kqVoqXZyRnNtZppS/s400/africa_pol00.jpg" width="321" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">AFRICA, A CONTINENT WHICH DECADES AGO WAS OF NO OR MERELY PERIPHERAL INTEREST TO THE REST OF THE WORLD SUDDENLY BECOMES A FOCAL POINT </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">read entire article at:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/07/mali-and-chinas-western-foreign-policy.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/07/mali-and-chinas-western-foreign-policy.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">EU INTEREST IN STABILIZING CHAD </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">read entire article at:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/10/chad-and-its-oil-reserves.html"><span lang="DE-AT" style="mso-ansi-language: DE-AT;">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/10/chad-and-its-oil-reserves.html</span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">THE POWER VACUUM WITHIN CAR PAVES THE WAY FOR WAHHABI EXTREMIST’S ADVANCES</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CAR is geographically at the centre of what some strategists have called an “arc of insecurity” involving Islamic militants and stretching from KENYA and SOMALIA in eastern AFRICA to MAURITANIA in the west.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The power vacuum in CAR is paving the way for al Qaeda-linked Islamists ousted from MALI, while lawlessness in north CAMEROON is opening a route to CAR for NIGERIA’S Boko Haram.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“We are seeing the start of an internal sectarian poison that we never had in the past coupled with an international aspect that we hadn’t seen either,” said the source.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FRANCES POOR RELATIONSHIP WITH CAR</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Unlike some of its other colonies in AFRICA, FRANCE has had a poor relationship with CAR since independence in 1960, and has been reluctant to get directly involved in the crisis, urging AFRICAN nations to do their utmost to resolve it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The AFRICAN UNION has responded by deploying about 2,500 troops as part of its 3,600-strong MISCA mission, made up of forces from CHAD, GABON, CONGO REPUBLIC and CAMEROON.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihyphenhyphen0sytSurCNl85Op6hhkquBIy5pgeoPALKzZKOOEan_5u0EEGGvlaD7-EpxLMDKRSrzMzscTOnnMZcd1g6sGS2WKIdnkXqq1e0sLPdj8Nv_GmTKny1MP_IY8r6GU_s3NkVyjWaGG0tYi/s1600/451px-Saharan_Africa_regions_map.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihyphenhyphen0sytSurCNl85Op6hhkquBIy5pgeoPALKzZKOOEan_5u0EEGGvlaD7-EpxLMDKRSrzMzscTOnnMZcd1g6sGS2WKIdnkXqq1e0sLPdj8Nv_GmTKny1MP_IY8r6GU_s3NkVyjWaGG0tYi/s400/451px-Saharan_Africa_regions_map.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information: </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">POROUS BORDERS TURN LIBYA INTO RADICAL SANCTUARY</span> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Read entire article at:</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/10/libya-wild-west-of-northern-africa.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/10/libya-wild-west-of-northern-africa.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SEVEN ECONOMIES IN SUB - SAHARAN AFRICA ARE EXPECTED TO BE AMONG THE TEN FASTEST GROWING ECONOMIES IN THE WORLD. </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Read entire article at:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/africa-forgotten-and-underestimated.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/africa-forgotten-and-underestimated.html</a></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But its material, logistic and financial resources are limited, prompting FRANCE to seek a U.N. Security Council mandate that would address that and turn MISCA into a U.N. peacekeeping force ultimately supported by FRENCH troops.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJg0cYKmldqN5RdPxzWHvxpD5zY_Jii0nXde3KGNaxVDl5cLOk7Erz87dd_7H-M9UuBuMHTQNE_wg2wXXjN2QZ8XsqJYOkbhoXI4iF8Vu0FCjb27-NfvMgUaj8QWRiP5iPplhyphenhyphenmmZhKCpp/s1600/8312437071_433e9a04ca_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJg0cYKmldqN5RdPxzWHvxpD5zY_Jii0nXde3KGNaxVDl5cLOk7Erz87dd_7H-M9UuBuMHTQNE_wg2wXXjN2QZ8XsqJYOkbhoXI4iF8Vu0FCjb27-NfvMgUaj8QWRiP5iPplhyphenhyphenmmZhKCpp/s320/8312437071_433e9a04ca_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“It’s not obvious, because CAR doesn’t interest anybody. People hardly know where it is, and if we don’t do it then nobody will,” said another FRENCH diplomat.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The immediate objective is to minimise the level of support Paris has to give by ensuring that collectively Africa, the United Nations, EU and France act together.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It also wants transitional president and former Seleka leader Michel Djotodia to completely disassociate himself from the rebels and abide by an 18-month timeline to elections.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“We’re not looking for new interventions here or there. It’s not for FRANCE to solve the crisis. It’s no longer our role to be AFRICA’S policeman,” said a senior French official.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“On top of that a mission like this is very costly and let’s not pretend, we can’t do it alone given our budgetary issues.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But if the hope is to get other world powers mobilised, there is a degree of realism in FRANCE that it may at some point have to get directly involved given that the level of Security Council support for giving MISCA a U.N. mandate is unclear.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FRANCE, which has about 400 troops in CAR protecting the airport and FRENCH interests, has already explored some options.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It could seek to boost its troop numbers to 1,200 to quickly restore security on the ground, or increase the force to 700-750 soldiers with a specific role to support MISCA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It may also decide to keep the contingent’s size unchanged, but turn it into a rapid reaction force. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Editing by Mark John and Alison Williams</span></div>

FRANCE AND CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

FRANCE WANTS ACTION ON CENTRAL AFRICA “SECTARIAN POISON” Source: Trust Org FRANCE’S foreign minister heads to the CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC ...

FRANCE AND CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

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