Anti-Balaka fighters walk in Gambo, southeast Central African Republic,
on August 16, 2017. UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien told the Security
Council Tuesday there are early signs of genocide in the
violence-plagued country. AFP PHOTO | ALEXIS HUGUET
UNITED NATIONS
United
Nations aid chief Stephen O'Brien told the Security Council Tuesday
there are early signs of genocide in the violence-plagued Central
African Republic, according to diplomats.
O'Brien made
his remarks in a closed-door meeting — which was not on the official
council agenda and was called for by France — following his recent visit
to the country, one of the diplomats told AFP.
The aid
chief's warning echoed what he said earlier this month, when he told a
UN meeting "the early warning signs of genocide are there" and urged
more troops and police to bolster the UN peacekeeping mission in the
strife-torn country.
UN TROOPS
The
United Nations maintains some 12,500 troops and police on the ground to
help protect civilians and support the government of President
Faustin-Archange Touadera, who was elected last year.
The
number of displaced in CAR — a country of 4.5 million people — has
soared to 600,000, O'Brien said according to the diplomat, who added the
tally was 40 percent higher than last year.
The UN
official also warned the council of violence targeting humanitarian
actors on the ground, forcing them to drop many of their duties.
Violence is spreading in the country, including in the region of
Bangassou in the southeast, the same diplomatic source said.
WAR
One
of the world's poorest nations, Central African Republic was pitched
into a war between Muslim and Christian militias in 2013, unleashed when
President Francois Bozize, a Christian, was overthrown by a coalition
of Muslim-majority rebel groups called the Seleka.
They
in turn were ousted by a military intervention led by France, which was
followed by bloody reprisals by the mainly Christian anti-Balaka
militia.
Groups on both sides are now fighting for
control of natural resources, including gold and diamonds, as well as
regional influence.
According to another diplomatic
source, during Tuesday's exchanges some members of the council proposed a
visit to gain better understanding of the situation.
At
the beginning of August O'Brien told the UN "we must act now, not pare
down the UN's effort, and pray we don't live to regret it."
On
Tuesday, according to diplomats, he reaffirmed that the UN's request
for $497 million to finance humanitarian aid this year to the country
was far from being fulfilled.
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