CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: UN Peace-building
Office to work with new administration
© IRIN
Lamine Cisse, representative of the UN secretary-general in
CAR and head the UN Peace-building Office |
BANGUI, 2 Apr 2003 (IRIN) - The
representative of the UN secretary-general in the Central African Republic
(CAR), Lamine Cisse, has said the activities of the UN Peace-building Office
(BONUCA) in CAR will be revised and adapted to the new situation in the
country.
"The mandate remains the same, but the activities will be readjusted," Cisse,
who heads BONUCA, told IRIN on Tuesday. "Before, we worked with a
democratically elected regime. Now we are going to work with a different
one."
The self-declared president of CAR, Francois Bozize, seized power from
former President Ange-Felix Patasse on 15 March after a period of fighting
which began in October 2002.
BONUCA replaced the UN Mission in the CAR, known as MINURCA, in June 2000
and was mandated to consolidate peace there after three mutinies in 1996
and1997 and to support democratic institutions. BONUCA has been organising
meetings between political parties and members of parliament, educating
people about human rights and advising on information, administration, and
military and civil police matters.
Cisse, who met Bozize on 27 March, said he had to wait for a national
transitional council to be formed before he knew exactly what BONUCA could
do. |