#CentralAfricanRepublic (THREAD)

1) 200 to 300 rebels attacked the capital #Bangui today (PK9, PK11, PK12 & Bimbo areas).

Govt, #Russian & #Rwandan troops repelled them. But the rebels remain in the hills & areas surroundings the capital.

Read @CrisisGroup statement 👇

2) The rebels were generally equipped or light weapons (including #AK47 & grenades), several #RPG & probably mortars.

No report of the casualties yet.
3) It's unlikely that they really wanted to size the capital, if not they would have come in bigger number.

They seem to be trying to isolate the capital from the rest of the country that they already control largely & install an attrition warfare just at the capital doors.
4) Its not excluded they may also be trying to play with the psychology of the Constitutional Court which will proclaim the final results of the elections in the coming days.
5) One thing is sure, with the new offensive of the rebellion, including at the capital doors, it becomes more difficult, if not unwise, to organize the second round of the elections for National Assembly.
6) #CAR urgently needs dialogue.

The subregion #ECCAS should enhance its efforts in that direction at the heads of State level & #AfricanUnion should consider #CAR crisis among its first priorities.

Countries like #Cameroon which always play ostrich diplomacy should step up.
7) Big international players such as #Russia & #France should play a political role.

If they dialogue among themselves & combine their efforts, the two countries could have enough leverage to push the key protagonists (#Touadera vs #Bozize & armed groups) to the dialogue table.
8) The alternative to dialogue is only a protracted war with huge possible consequences from each protagonist.

- For #Touadera, a protacted war could poison his second term, force him to become the president of #Bangui & he could even be overthrown at the end.
9) For #Bozize, a protracted war will condemn him and his family to a fugitive life for years, with risks of being militarily defeated, arrested or killed.
10) Finally, there is a risk of civil war. Militia "Les Requins" close to #Touadera arrested & reportedly executed some soldiers and civilians close to #Bozize. Bozize tribesmen Gbaya promised to retaliate if that continues.

This could be a dangerous escalation of the conflict

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MISREPRESENTED CONTEXT

1. I am indeed disgusted with attempts to misrepresent and take out of context what I wrote on my blog yesterday.


2. Those who did that highlighted only one part of paragraph 12 which read: “Muslims have a right to be angry and to kill millions of French people for the massacres of the past.”

3. They stopped there and implied that I am promoting the massacre of the French.

4.If they had read d posting in its entirety & especially the subsequent sentence which read: “But by & large the Muslims hv not applied the “eye for an eye” law. Muslims don’t. The French shouldn’t. Instead the French should teach their people to respect other people’s feelings

5. Because of the spin and out of context presentation by those that picked up my posting, reports were made against me and I am accused of promoting violence etc… on Facebook and Twitter.

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The first likely historical reference to Ethiopia is ancient Egyptian records of trade expeditions to the "Land of Punt" in search of gold, ebony, ivory, incense, and wild animals, starting in c 2500 BC 🇪🇹


Ethiopians themselves believe that the Queen of Sheba, who visited Israel's King Solomon in the Bible (c 950 BC), came from Ethiopia (not Yemen, as others believe). Here she is meeting Solomon in a stain-glassed window in Addis Ababa's Holy Trinity Church. 🇪🇹


References to the Queen of Sheba are everywhere in Ethiopia. The national airline's frequent flier miles are even called "ShebaMiles". 🇪🇹