South African troops headed to embattled Central African Republic

(CNN) -- Hundreds of South African troops are headed to the embattled Central African Republic, where they will work alongside members of that nation's military who are trying to quash a rebellion.

South African President Jacob Zuma on Sunday announced the deployment of 400 troops "to render support in fulfillment of an international obligation of the Republic of South Africa towards the CAR."

Despite fits and starts in the peace process, the insurgency in the Central African Republic remains an active and real threat to the government of President Francois Bozize. On Saturday, rebels attacked two more towns -- having already seized several others, as well as threatening to head to the capital of Bangui -- according to a government official.

Zuma's directive does not indicate South African troops will fight rebels directly. Rather, the statement says they "will assist with capacity building of the CAR Defense Force and will also assist CAR with the planning and implementation of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes.""The employment of members of (South Africa's military) to CAR is one of the efforts that South Africa is making to bring about peace and stability in the region," said the South African statement, which was released through government spokesman Mac Maharaj.

The crisis started in December, when the Seleka rebel coalition accused Bozize of reneging on a peace deal and demanded he step down. They seized towns in the northern part of the landlocked country and threatened to march on Bangui.

Bozize has called on the international community, including the United States and France, to help stave off the rebellion.

The foreign ministers from the Economic Community of Central African States will meet Tuesday in Gabon's capital, Libreville, to set an agency for peace talks, said Placide Ibouanga Ndinga, a spokesman for the group.

By Thursday, the talks were expected to include the Seleka, opposition party officials, private sector representatives, U.N. officials and Bozize, according to Ndinga.

Still, some in the Central African Republic questioned the utility of such talks, if they occur as rebels continue to wage attacks.

"How can there be peace if the rebels are looting, raping and abducting our civilians?" said Jules Gauthier Ngbapo, a spokesman for Josue Binoua, minister of decentralization and territorial administration.

Ngbapo said that around 1 a.m. Saturday, rebels attacked the towns of Alindao and Kouango, which lie between Bangui and Bambari, a town it already had seized.

The rebels yelled to civilians, asking them to come out and promising that they'd protect them, the spokesman said. He accused the opposition fighters of "shooting randomly, destroying properties and ... raping civilians."

"Civilians are afraid, and most of them have fled the town and are now hiding in the forests," he added. "But the rebels are still patrolling the towns, waiting for the innocent people to come out."

CNN was unable to confirm the government claims about the occupation of the towns.

As the government scrambles to put down the rebellion, alarm is growing as children are separated from their relatives.

"Reliable sources have informed us that children are newly being recruited among their ranks. These reports are of serious concern," said Souleymane Diabate, the U.N. children agency's representative in the nation.

Armed groups are forcing people younger than 18 to fight, carry supplies and serve as sex slaves, the agency said last Friday.

Before the conflict started last month, 2,500 children were linked to various armed groups. That number is expected to rise as the recent conflict continues, officials said.

About 300,000 children have been affected by the rebellion, including family separation, sexual violence, displacement and lack of access to education and health facilities.

CAR rebels seize two more towns on march to capital

Rebel forces in the Central African Republic seized control of two more towns overnight near Bambari, minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation Josue Binoua said Saturday, as the rebels continue to advance on the capital, Bangui.

By News Wires (text)

 

Rebels in the Central African Republic captured two more towns overnight Saturday, just days before talks were due to open in an effort to resolve the crisis in the impoverished country.
"The rebels took two towns near Bambari," a town already under the control of the Seleka rebel coalition, Territorial Administration Minister Josue Binoua told AFP.
"This shows their intent to wage war even during negotiations," he said.
There was no immediate reaction from the rebels themselves to the claim.

Rebels 12km from Damara as S. Africa sends troops The Central African Republic’s Minister of Territorial Administration said Sunday that rebel forces are 12km from Damara, considered the last hurdle before the capital Bangui, which is 75km to the south. “They are walking around, completing shooting exercises, traumatising the residents,” he said. “They have been there a week…The government is concerned about such proximity.” Meanwhile, South Africa announced Sunday that it is sending 400 army troops to help in the battle against the rebel insurgency and “to bring about peace and stability in the

Nelson Mandela leaves hospital

South Africa's beloved former president Nelson Mandela has been discharged from hospital after three weeks of treatment for a lung infection and gallstones. The anti-Apartheid hero will continue to receive treatment at home.

By FRANCE 24 (video)
News Wires (text)

 

South Africa's anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela was discharged from hospital on Wednesday after almost three weeks being treated for a lung infection but will continue to receive medical care at home, the presidency said.
The much-loved 94-year-old had been admitted to a hospital in the capital Pretoria on December 8, the latest health scare for South Africa's first black president.
"Former president Nelson Mandela was discharged from hospital this evening," said a statement from President Jacob Zuma's office.
"He will undergo home-based high care at his Houghton (Johannesburg) home until he fully recovers."
He had been flown to Pretoria from his rural home in Qunu in the south of the country for treatment for a recurring lung infection. Doctors then discovered t

Africa

DR Congo rebels threaten to ditch peace talks

M23 rebellion leaders demand DRC government sign ceasefire as pre-condition for second round of negotiations in Uganda.

Congolese rebels have threatened to walk away from this week's peace talks to end their nine-month revolt unless the government signs an official ceasefire, a demand Kinshasa dismissed as unnecessary.
The rebel March 23 Movement, preparing for talks on Friday in Kampala, capital of regional mediator Uganda, said government troops had reinforced positions in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and warned it would resist an offensive.
"If Kinshasa continues to refuse to sign a ceasefire, M23 is going to ask its delegation to return to DRC. We will wait and when they say 'we're ready to sign [a ceasefire]' we'll go back," Jean-Marie Runiga, head of the rebels' political wing, told reporters in Bunagana, a border town under rebel control.
The first attempt at peace talks to end the nine-month rebellion in Congo's volatile east failed last month amid threats and accusations. A government spokesman dismissed the rebel demand.
Ceasefire rejected

AU chief, Bozize to meet as rebels advance on Bangui

© AFP

African Union chief Thomas Bani Yayi is due to hold talks with Central Africa Republic’s embattled president, François Bozize, after rebels on Saturday seized the town of Sibut, around 150 kilometres from the country’s capital Bangui.

By FRANCE 24 (video)
News Wires (text)

 

Rebels in the Central African Republic who have advanced towards the capital Bangui warned Sunday they could enter the city even as the head of the African Union prepared to launch peace negotiations.
AU chief Thomas Boni Yayi, president of Benin, is expected

CAR rebels halt advance, agree to peace talks

© AFP

Rebels in the Central African Republic on Wednesday said that they had halted their advance on the capital Bangui and had agreed to join peace talks, after their onslaught had them within striking distance of embattled President François Bozize.

By News Wires (text)

 

Rebels in Central African Republic said they had halted their advance on the capital on Wednesday and agreed to start peace talks, averting a clash with regionally backed troops in the mineral-rich nation.
The Seleka rebels had pushed within striking distance of Bangui after a three-week onslaught and threatened to oust President Francois Bozize, accusing him of reneging on a previous peace deal and cracking down on dissidents.
Their announcement on Wednesday only gave the leader a limited reprieve as the fighters told Reuters they might insist on his removal in the negotiations.

CAR president sacks defence minister, army chief Central African Republic President François Bozize has sacked his son Jean Francis Bozize as defence minister and also sacked the army chief of staff, a decree read over state radio said on Wednesday. Bozize earlier had criticised the army for failing to halt a rebel advance that had pushed back government soldiers to within 75 km (45 miles) of the capital Bangui. (REUTERS)

Mandela is at home and alert, wants rumors about death to stop, relative says

(CNN) -- Former South African President Nelson Mandela, at home after a long hospital stay, is alert and playing with his grandchildren, his granddaughter Zaziwe Manaway told CNN exclusively Friday.

Mandela, 94, is aware of social media rumors that he's close to death, Manaway said.

Read more: Nelson Mandela discharged from the hospital

"That is absolutely not true. My grandfather is well," she said. "It can be very, very hurtful for us to hear these messages out there in the social media that our grandfather is going to go home to die. It is insensitive."

Mandela is revered in his country, CNN's Robyn Curnow writes, because he reminds South Africans of how far they have come. The former president embodies the South Africa that was promised in the election of 1994, and many South Africans worry that their country no longer reflects the democratic ideals Mandela spent his life advocating.

CAR rebels halt advance on capital

Rebels say they would participate in talks, as head of regional African forces warns them against making new moves. Last Modified: 02 Jan 2013 21:11 inShare1 Email Print Share Feedback

Rebels in Central African Republic have said they have halted their advance on the capital, Bangui, and would participate in dialogue, as head of regional African forces warned them against making further moves. The announcement on Wednesday gave only a limited reprieve for President Francois Bozize as the rebels told Reuters news agency they might insist on his removal in the negotiations in Gabon's capital Libreville. "I have asked our forces not to move their positions starting today because we want to enter talks in Libreville for a political solution," Eric Massi, rebel spokesman, told Reuters by telephone from Paris. "I am in discussion with our partners to come up with proposals to end the crisis, but one solution could be a political transition that excludes Bozize," he said. On Wednesday, the commander of the regional African force, FOMAC, warned rebels against any attempt to take Damara, the last strategic town between them and the country's capital Bangui. "Let it be clear, we will not give up Damara," General Jean-Felix Akaga said. "If the rebels attack Damara that would amount to a declaration of war and would mean that they have decided to engage the 10 central African states," he told reporters in Bangui. The UN has called for dialogue between the government and the rebels. The special UN representative for the country, Margaret Vogt, "is staying in close dialogue with the key parties in CAR and in the region and has offered the United Nations support for any political negotiations", UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said. More than 30 truckloads of troops from Chad now line the two-lane highway just outside of Damara, to support government forces. The rebels, who began their campaign a month ago and have taken several key towns and cities, appear to be holding their positions up until Sibut, which is 112km further north from Damara. Defence minister dismissed On Wednesday, President Bozize announced through a decree read on state radio that he was dismissing his son, Francis, as defence minister. Chief of Staff Guillaume Lapo also was being replaced. The president already has promised to form a coalition government with rebels and to negotiate without conditions. It's a sign of how serious a threat is now being posed by the rebel groups who call themselves Seleka, which means alliance in the local Sango language. They have accused Bozize of failing to honour a 2007 peace deal. "There is a little bit of hope as rebels have stopped their advance on the capital," Lydie Boka, Africa analyst, Director of Strategic Co, told Al Jazeera. "And really they didn't have much of choice given that Chad, which is a big player and a master of the game in the region, has warned that they should not go beyond Damara." There is also speculation about religious links between rebels and some of the neigbouring countries like Sudan and Chad, she said. The landlocked nation of 4.4 million people is rich in diamonds, gold and uranium and yet remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Central African Republic has suffered many army revolts, coups and rebellions since gaining independence from France in 1960. "Central Africans are tired of somebody who came by force in 2003 and didn't really share power. Basically, his (Bozize) party, KNK, took over everything in the country. The last legislative elections were virtually fraudulent," Boka said.

Death toll from stampede at Angola stadium vigil rises

(CNN) -- The death toll from a New Year's stampede during a church vigil at an Angolan stadium rose to 16 Wednesday, state media said, as details emerged of how the tragedy unfolded.

The deadly crush at the gates of the Cidadela Desportiva stadium, in Angola's capital, Luanda, came Monday evening as tens of thousands of people flocked to an event staged by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.

Three children, aged three and four, were among the 16 people killed, according to state-run newspaper Jornal de Angola.

British producer accused in Uganda over gay play says case is dropped

(CNN) -- A British theater producer who was briefly jailed in Uganda because of his play about the challenges facing gay people in the African nation said Wednesday the case against him had been dropped.

Homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda, where most gays and lesbians face physical attacks and are treated as social outcasts.

David Cecil told CNN he was in the Ugandan court when the magistrate dismissed the case.

Speaking by phone from Kampala, he said the magistrate told the court Cecil had complied with the investigation, and was clearly not afraid to face the charges.

However, the magistrate said the prosecution failed to provide evidence to substantiate the charges, Cecil said.

Sudan and South Sudan leaders to hold summit

Sudan's Omar al-Bashir to meet his Southern counterpart Salva Kiir in Addis Ababa to talk on border and oil. Last Modified: 02 Jan 2013 03:17 inShare Email Print Share Feedback

The presidents of Sudan and South Sudan are set to meet in Ethiopian capital to discuss how to improve border security and resume cross-border oil flows, both governments have said. The African Union will host the summit on Friday between Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and his southern counterpart Salva Kiir in Addis Ababa, spokesmen for both governments said on Tuesday. Both countries have said they wanted to set up a demilitarised border zone, signalling possible concessions ahead of the summit which will test whether they can mend ties and restore vital oil flows. South and North signed a landmark deal in September in Addis Ababa, which was centred on nine key areas, including a demilitarised buffer zone and oil production. They agreed to resume oil exports from the landlocked South through Sudan, months after Juba had shut down its oil production after failing to agree with the North on an export fee, one of several conflicts left over from South Sudan's secession in 2011. However, both the African neighbours still have to move back their army 10km from the border to set up a buffer zone, a condition to restart oil flows. They also accuse each other of supporting rebels on the other's territory and fought a limited war in April last yearafter South Sudan’s army captured oil-rich town of Heglig – which is internationally recognised as part of Sudan. Oil lifeline In a speech on New Year's Eve, Kiir said the new republic was willing to withdraw its troops from the 1,800km long border, much of which is disputed. South Sudan's Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin told Reuters the withdrawal would have to be coordinated between the two countries. He did not elaborate. Bashir did not mention Kiir's comments at a rally on Tuesday but said Sudan wanted to implement the September deals, which would include the troop pullback, and open the border for trade. "We are ready for good neighbourly relations and co-operation and we want to implement all agreements signed in Addis Ababa," Bashir said. South Sudan seceded from Sudan under a 2005 peace deal which ended decades of civil war but both countries have yet to decide on ownership of several disputed border regions, including Abyei – a fertile grazing land. South Sudan had originally hoped to resume oil exports by January but has postponed turning on wells until the buffer zone is in place. Oil is the lifeline for both economies.

Ivory Coast to investigate deadly stampede

Government launches investigation after scores were killed in stampede following New Year firework display. Last Modified: 03 Jan 2013 03:15 inShare Email Print Share Feedback

Alassane Outtara, Ivory Coast's president, has launched an investigation into a stampede following a New Year's Eve fireworks display that caused the deaths of 61 people, mostly children and teenagers. Outtara has also on Wednesday called for three days of national mourning for the victims. Some survivors said that makeshift barricades along the main boulevard prevented the movement of people and helped cause the stampede. Police said that unknown people put tree trunks across the Boulevard de la Republique, where the trampling took place. "After the fireworks we reopened the other streets, but we had not yet removed the tree trunks from the Boulevard de la Republique, in front of the Hotel Tiana near the National Assembly (parliament) building,'' a police officer said. "That is where the stampede happened when people flooded in from the other streets.'' Outtara said that the "investigation must take into account all the testimonies of victims...We will have a crisis centre to share and receive information". An estimated 50,000 people had gathered near the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium and elsewhere in Abidjan's Plateau district to watch the fireworks. As they streamed away from the show some encountered the blockades. "Near the Justice Palace we were stopped by some people who put blockades of wood in the street,'' Zoure Sanate said from her bed in Cocody Hospital. "They told us we must stay in the Plateau area until morning. None of us accepted to stay in Plateau until the morning for a celebration that ended at around 1am." "Then came the stampede of people behind us," she said.

Diplomats seek progress on Central African Republic crisis

(CNN) -- International diplomats are meeting Thursday in Gabon for talks aimed at resolving a brewing crisis in the Central African Republic, where rebels are threatening the capital.

The discussions in the Gabonese capital, Libreville, come a day after the United Nations called on the C.A.R. government and rebels to end violence and turn to dialogue.

Diplomats from the United States and Japan are expected to meet separately with Nassour Guelendouksia Ouaido, secretary general of the Economic Community of Central African States, a spokesman for the regional body said.

UN hits DR Congo rebels with sanctions

Posted by: Phil Moore Posted date : January 1, 2013 at 7:05 pm In: Africa

AFP/File

The UN Security Council slapped an arms embargo Monday on the M23 and FDLR rebel groups amid a flare-up of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern region.
The council committee tasked with monitoring sanctions on the Congo also imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on two key M23 figures: the group’s civilian leader Jean-Marie Runiga Lugerero and Lieutenant Colonel Eric Badege, a commander suspected of being responsible for the deaths of women and children.
“We believe these designations will directly help advance the goal of a sustainable peace in eastern DRC,” US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said in a statement.
“We urge the rank and file of both the M23 and the FDLR to defect and demobilize in order to disassociate themselves from the sanctioned groups.”
UN experts accuse Congo’s neighbors Rwanda and Uganda of backing the M23, an accusation both countries deny.
The decision came just hours before Rwanda was set to join the council as a non-permanent member on Tuesday.
The Security Council has already issued targeted sanctions, the latest round at the end of November, against three M23 military leaders — Sultani Makenga, Baudoin Ngaruye and Innocent Kaina — but had yet to sanction the entire group.
Britain’s Africa minister Mark Simmonds welcomed the agreement, adding: “We remain committed to finding long-term solutions which will end the cycle of violence in the DRC.”
“The dialogue needed to resolve the crisis must ensure that all violence stops, that external support to M23 ends and that there is no impunity for M23 commanders and others who have committed serious human rights abuses, including the FDLR,” he added.
Simmonds called for “leadership” from the Congolese government to address the underlying causes of the conflict.
The UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has accused the M23 of arbitrary executions, forced disappearances, degrading treatment and rape of civilians in and around Goma after taking over the eastern Congo city in November.
But M23 rebels have rejected the claim.
The M23 was formed in April by former fighters in the National Congress for the Defense of the People, an ethnic Tutsi rebel group that was integrated into the army under a 2009 peace deal whose terms the mutineers claim were never fully implemented.
The FDLR’s members are ethnic Hutus who were soldiers in the Rwandan army before being forced out of the country in the wake of the 1994 genocide, which killed 800,000 people — mostly Tutsis.
“For years, the FDLR has committed atrocities against civilians and remains a threat to the stability of North and South Kivu,” Rice said.
“Today’s action against the FDLR is a critical step toward ending impunity and advancing peace.”
Although the council has repeatedly denounced external support to the M23, it has not cited Rwanda or Uganda by name so far.
Rice warned of “additional action” by the council if necessary “against those who persist in providing external support to M23 or act in violation of the sanctions regime and arms embargo.”
(Chasity M.)

Nigerian forces kill 13 Boko Haram militants after church attacks

By Ben Brumfield, CNN

updated 4:51 AM EST, Wed January 2, 2013

Who are Boko Haram?

(CNN) -- Islamist militants in Nigeria's restive north have taken the lives of 34 people since Christmas, including 27 Christians attending church services.

On Tuesday, the country's military took the fight to Boko Haram's stronghold, killing 13 suspected combatants.

Joint Task Force Operation Restore Order lost one soldier during the afternoon gunfight in the isolated town of Maiduguri in Nigeria's far northwest corner, said spokesman Sagir Musa.

The task force condemned alleged Boko Haram attacks going back to July 2012 in a statement, calling them "incessant callous, brutal, barbaric and impious killings." These included attacks on mosques, churches and businesses.

 

Human Rights Watch said the militant group has killed more than 2,800 people in all.

On Christmas Eve, attackers raided two churches, killing 12 people and setting one of the churches alight. Six days later, suspected Boko Haram fighters killed at least 15 Christian worshipers, slitting some of their throats, according to Nigerian authorities.

Boko Haram carried out its largest known massacre in January 2012 killing 211 through coordinated bombings and gun assaults in the northern city of Kano, a popular target. The group often attacks Nigerian police stations.

The name Boko Haram means "Western education is sacrilege."

In the past, they have attacked other Muslims they felt were on an immoral path but have increasingly killed Christians.

The U.S. State Department has accused Boko Haram of attacking mosques and churches to incite tensions between the two religious groups, hoping to drive a wedge between them.

It has condemned some of the group's leaders for alleged ties to al Qaeda.

Islamists 'destroy' mausoleums in Timbuktu

By News Wires the 23/12/2012 - 22:59

Islamists in Timbuktu renewed efforts to destroy the historic city’s remaining mausoleums on Sunday, three days after the UN backed an African-led military intervention to retake control of the country's north from al Qaeda-linked groups.

Armed groups occupying Timbuktu in northern Mali used pickaxes on Sunday to smash up any remaining mausoleums in the ancient city, an Islamist leader said.

The rebels' ruthless implementation of their version of Islamic law comes just days after the United Nations approved a military force to wrest back control of the conflict-ridden area.

"Not a single mausoleum will remain in Timbuktu, Allah doesn't like it," Ansar Dine leader Abou Dardar told AFP. "We are in the process of smashing all the hidden mausoleums in the area."

Witnesses confirmed the claims, which were also backed by a resident who said he belongs to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), another militant group occupying the fabled city since a March coup plunged the west African state into chaos.

Anything that doesn't fall under Islam "is not good. Man should only worship Allah," Mohamed Alfoul said of the mausoleums, which the armed Islamists consider blasphemous.
The vandalism of the Muslim saints' tombs in the UNESCO World Heritage site came a day after other Islamists in the northern city of Gao announced they had amputated two people's hands.
The continued strict application of sharia law is seen as a sign that the armed Islamist groups are unfazed by the UN's green light for the African-led military operation.
Planners have said any intervention cannot be launched before September next year. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian however said in an interview due out in Monday's La Croix newspaper that he thought an intervention could occur in the first half of 2013.
In July, Islamists destroyed the entrance to a 15th-century mosque in Timbuktu, the so-called "City of 333 Saints."
"The Islamists are currently in the process of destroying all the mausoleums in the area with pickaxes," one witness said.
"I saw Islamists get out of a car near the historic mosque of Timbuktu. They smashed a mausoleum behind a house shouting 'Allah is great, Allah is great'," another resident told AFP.
Not only present in cemeteries and mosques, the revered mausoleums are also found in alleyways and private residences in the city, an ancient centre of learning and desert crossroads.
Ansar Dine first began destroying the cultural treasures in July.

Africa

CAR rebels warned against capital takeover

The warning by multinational African force comes amid growing fear of a rebel attack on Bangui. Last Modified: 02 Jan 2013 11:41 Feedback Tweet inShare1 Email Print Share

The commander of the regional African force FOMAC has warned rebels in the Central African Republic against any attempt to take Damara, the last strategic town between them and the country's capital Bangui. "Let it be clear, we will not give up Damara," General Jean-Felix Akaga said on Wednesday. "If the rebels attack Damara that would amount to a declaration of war and would mean that they have decided to engage the 10 central African states," he told reporters in Bangui. "I honestly don't think they will go that far." Akaga said Bangui was well secured by FOMAC troops and reiterated that Damara remained the last key government-controlled town before the capital located 75km away. "The red line is Damara," he said. Peace talks The rebels, who began their campaign a month ago and have taken several key towns and cities, have accused Central African Republic leader Francois Bozize of failing to honour a 2007 peace deal. They said they had halted their advance on the capital on Wednesday and would start peace talks, averting a clash with regionally-backed troops in the mineral-rich nation. The announcement gave only a limited reprieve for President Francois Bozize as the rebels told Reuters they might insist on his removal in the negotiations in Gabon's capital Libreville. "I have asked our forces not to move their positions starting today because we want to enter talks in Libreville for a political solution," rebel spokesman Eric Massi told Reuters by telephone from Paris. "I am in discussion with our partners to come up with proposals to end the crisis, but one solution could be a political transition that excludes Bozize," he added.The landlocked nation of 4.4 million people is rich in diamonds, gold and uranium and yet remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Central African Republic has suffered many army revolts, coups and rebellions since gaining independence from France in 1960. The rebels behind the current instability signed a 2007 peace accord, but group leaders say the deal was not fully implemented.

AU chief, Bozize to meet as rebels advance on Bangui

© AFP

African Union chief Thomas Bani Yayi is due to hold talks with Central Africa Republic’s embattled president, François Bozize, after rebels on Saturday seized the town of Sibut, around 150 kilometres from the country’s capital Bangui.

By FRANCE 24
News Wires (text)

 

Rebels in the Central African Republic who have advanced towards the capital Bangui warned Sunday they could enter the city even as the head of the African Union prepared to launch peace negotiations.
AU chief Thomas Boni Yayi, president of Benin, is expected to travel to Bangui to try to initiate talks between the government of President Francois Bozize and the rebel coalition known as Seleka.
But a rebel spokesman told AFP that Bozize's departure should be on the agenda, and that rebel forces have not ruled out entering the capital of the chronically instable country.
"Bozize intends to give battle in Bangui, and if the situation demands it, we will take action," Eric Massi told AFP by telephone from the Gabonese capital Libreville, while reiterating that the rebels were not currently planning to seize the capital.
Tensions were high in Bangui after the country's armed forces, in the face of the rebels' advance, retreated to Damara, the last major town on the way to Bangui, about 75 kilometres (45 miles) away, in the southwest.
With the rebels closing in, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), which has troops in the country, warned both sides Sunday that Damara must remain in government control.
"The ECCAS forces are on maximum alert, and the city of Damara is the line not to be crossed. We ask the FACA (government forces) and the rebels not to advance from their current positions and to give talks a chance," said Antonio Di Garcia, head of the regional bloc's mission, on national radio.
The rebels are insisting on the departure of Bozize, who took power in a 2003 coup then won two elections.
"That issue must be discussed with the African Union," Massi told AFP. "President Bozize must recognise his military defeat on the ground ... and draw the necessary conclusions."
The rebels, who now control five regional capitals in the centre and north of the country, faced no resistance as they entered the town of Sibut around 150 kilometres (95 miles) from Bangui on Saturday, a military official told AFP.
Officials on both sides said the rebels had also repelled army soldiers trying to recapture Bambari, a former military stronghold in the landlocked country, one of the world's poorest despite vast mineral wealth.
The coalition of three rebel movements known as Seleka -- or the "alliance" in the Sango language -- launched their offensive on December 10 claiming the government has not fulfilled the terms of peace pacts signed in 2007 and 2011, which include providing for disarmament, pay and social reintegration for insurgents.
Bozize's appeals for help from former colonial power France and from the United States to fight the rebels have fallen on deaf ears.
Neighbouring Chad, which helped Bozize with rebellions in 2010, has sent a contingent to the country, but those troops too have retreated from the rebel advance.
In Bangui, the population is fearful of a rebel attack and the uncertainty has caused a sharp spike in food prices.
"I'm afraid of the rebels coming," said vegetable vendor Euphrasie Ngotanga in the city's huge Sambo market. "We're not going to sell our produce if there's no peace. And then how we will feed our children?"
The Central African Republic is notorious for unrest including coups, army mutinies and rebellions.