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CAR ex-rebel Miskinie rejects nomination

16 Aug 2007

Dear all,

Please find below excerpts from media articles and statements on recent
developments related to the ICC's investigation in the Central African Republic
(CAR) . They include reports of some observers fearing that CAR ex-rebel Abdoulaye Miskin's nomination rejection may renew hostilities.

The following digest includes articles and documents we have received from
diverse sources including international news agencies, local newspapers and
other sources. Please note that it is not exhaustive and does not represent
views from all parties concerned. We will continue to provide the most inclusive
information as it becomes available. Please note that all French translations
below from are unofficial and provided by the CICC Secretariat as a service to
our members, and should not be disseminated in official documents.

Please also take note of the Coalition's policy on situations before the ICC
(below), which explicitly states that the CICC will not take a position on
potential or pending situations before the court. The Coalition, however, will
continue to provide the most up-to-date
information about the ICC.

With regards,

Sasha Tenenbaum
CICC Communications
[email protected]

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CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

1. EX-REBEL ABDOULAYE MISKINE DENOUCES NON-IMPLEMENTATION OF PEACE ACCORD

i. "CAR ex-rebel rejects post after alleged violation of peace deal," 18 August
2007, Agence France Presse,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070808/wl_africa_afp/centrafricarebelspeace;_ylt=A
vXttzdjm3ubBMvD9E0wsde96Q8F

"...Although considered the sworn enemy of President Francois Bozize and a top
aide to former president Ange-Felix Patasse, [Abdoulaye Miskine, former leader
of the FDPC rebels] was named a presidential advisor in mid-July while he was
outside the country. But in a statement obtained by AFP on Wednesday he said he
was unable to accept the nomination as the February 2 agreement was not being
fully implemented.

Undertakings over the demobilization of former FDPC rebel fighters, the return
of people displaced by the conflict and the integration of soldiers into the
armed forces, had not been respected, he said. The statement said the FDPC would
continue to insist on an amnesty and to seek guarantees that the safety of its
leader was ensured, as set out in the February deal.

...ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he was not 'targeting any
particular suspect' but would be guided by 'the evidence that emerges'. Miskine
is suspected of having been involved in several rebellions in the northern
Central African Republic since 2003 but the FDPC's real role has never been
ascertained."

ii. "Dissonance between Abdoulaye Miskine and the Presidency," Divine Tékoro (Le
Confident), 10 August 2007,
http://www.leconfident.net/CACOPHONIE-ENTRE-ABDOULAYE-MISKINE-ET-LA-PRESIDENCE_a
3371.html
<http://www.leconfident.net/CACOPHONIE-ENTRE-ABDOULAYE-MISKINE-ET-LA-PRESIDENCE_a3371.html>

An article published in the Central African newspaper the Confident explains
that a number of observers fear the resumption of the hostilities by the rebels
in the North-West and the North of the country following the refusal of the
ex-rebel Abdoulaye Miskine to accept the position of advisor to the presidency:

"Abdoulaye Miskine has stepped out of his silence, suddenly. First he publishes
a communiqué declining his nomination to be special advisor to the Presidency of
the Republic....Abdoulaye Miskine and Zacharia Damane were appointed advisors
with the presidency of the Republic without their knowledge, which is not likely
to make things better....This situation does not come at the good time because
the CAR government will be obliged to respond on several fronts. [...] From a
military perspective, many observers fear the resumption of the hostilities by
the rebels in the North-West and the North of the country, especially with the
approach of the deployment of United Nations forces at Birao. The country saw a
period of calm, but the reprimands of the rebel chiefs in power in Bangui
resemble burning ember under ash. Although it is true that we have not yet
arrived at a verbal escalade between Abdoulaye Miskine and the Central African
government, we should recognize all the same that the acerbic tone of these
declarations is fusing something worrisome...."


[Translation from the French is unofficial by the CICC Secretariat]

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