Peace negotiations between armed militias and the government of Central African Republic have been suspended, mainly over the issue of amnesty, a governmental source told AFP Friday.

The latest round of peace talks sponsored by the African Union had opened in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on January 24.

"There has been a suspension of negotiations as the parties wanted to consult and agree among themselves on questions related to amnesty, which shouldn't be part of the discussions, and on the question of power-sharing," the source said.

Under pressure from Western allies, Bangui has always refused amnesty for warlords, several of whom are under UN sanctions or cited for human rights violations in UN reports.

The talks in Khartoum aim to reach an accord and put in place a follow-up committee to try to establish peace in CAR, a country ravaged by war since 2012.

On Thursday the UN Security Council agreed to a possible easing of an arms embargo on CAR to allow weapons supplies for government forces fighting the militias, who control much of the country.

A UN sanctions committee has already granted several exemptions to allow shipments of weapons to the poorly-equipped army.

Thousands of people have been killed during violence in CAR, one of Africa's poorest countries, where a quarter of the 4.5 million people have fled their homes because of the unrest.

Related Links
Africa News - Resources, Health, Food

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

US strike kills 24 jihadists in Somalia: Pentagon
Washington (AFP) Jan 31, 2019
US forces have conducted an air strike in Somalia that killed 24 Al-Shabaab militants, officials said Thursday, adding to a spate of such strikes against the Al-Qaeda affiliate. The strike a day earlier was near a "terrorist encampment location" in the Hiran region of central Somalia, US Africa Command said in a statement. The action came as part of an ongoing mission in which US forces work with African Union and Somali national security forces to fight the Shabaab jihadist movement. Such ... read more