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C O N F I D E N T I A L NDJAMENA 000608 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PARIS AND LONDON FOR AFRICAWATCHERS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2011 
TAGS: PREL PGOV CT
SUBJECT: CAR: BOZIZE WILL MEET CAR REBELS, ARCHBISHOP SAYS 
 
 
Classified By: DCM LUCY TAMLYN, FOR REASONS 1.4(D) 
 
¶1. (U)  The following cable was drafted by U.S. Embassy 
Bangui. 
 
¶2. (C) SUMMARY: The Archbishop of Bangui told Poloff on April 
25 that the CAR rebel group Union of Republican Forces (UFR) 
and President Bozize recently agreed to meet and engage in a 
dialogue. Some issues remain, but the Archbishop is 
cautiously optimistic that the northern-based rebel group 
will commit to a process of peace and reconciliation.  At the 
same time he voiced deep concerns about whether President 
Bozize will follow through and meet the rebels half way. In a 
thirteen-page manifesto that the Archbishop received on April 
22, the UFR demands negotiations with President Bozize and 
calls on the Archbishop to mediate. The manifesto, which 
credits UFR Secretary General Lt. F. N,Djadder-Bedaya as its 
author, outlines the rebel group,s purpose and Bozize,s 
failure of leadership, calling him a "criminal in power." The 
UFR also highlights six prerequisites that must be met by the 
GOCAR to prove its good faith before the UFR enters into any 
dialogue with President Bozize. The Archbishop is concerned 
that the rebellion in Chad might complicate any potential 
peace process involving rebels in CAR. He said there was a 
significant element of Islamic radicalism behind the Chadian 
rebellion and its April 13 attack on N,Djamena, and he 
worries that "Sahelian Islam" will become the dominant 
religion in CAR, giving rise to political-religious 
radicalism. End summary. 
 
¶3. (C) During an April 25 meeting, Archbishop of Bangui 
Paulin Pomodimo told Poloff that the UFR and President Bozize 
had agreed earlier this week to engage in peace talks. 
Although the date, place, and structure of the talks have not 
yet been determined, the Archbishop believes the rebel group 
is committed to establishing a dialogue, perhaps more so than 
President Bozize. Bozize agreed in principle to meet and hold 
a dialogue with the UFR only after being advised to do so by 
Gabonese President Bongo Ondimba on a recent trip to 
Libreville. 
 
¶4. (C) While Bozize is a very religious man, the Archbishop 
said, he has not assuaged doubts that he has the vision to 
facilitate statesmanship, peace, and reconciliation. In 
addition, he said, Bozize has a kind of "diabolical pact" 
with certain figures in the CAR security forces who brought 
him to power and who regularly commit serious human rights 
abuses with near total impunity. 
 
¶5. (C) The agreement in principle by both sides to enter into 
a dialogue came just a week after the Archbishop delivered a 
highly publicized Easter sermon calling on all sides to 
engage in talks and allow peace to evolve. The sermon 
strongly condemned killings by northern rebels and 
"massacres" by the FACA in Ouham-Pende prefecture in late 
January and mid-February, and it highlighted the resultant 
suffering of the civilian population. In addition, the 
Archbishop emphasized that if the GOCAR wanted to end the 
rebellion, it had to make a real effort to combat poor 
governance and impunity. 
 
¶6. (C) In its 13-page manifesto, the UFR,s "political 
bureau" demands negotiations with President Bozize and calls 
on the Archbishop to mediate. Attributed to (but not signed 
by) UFR Secretary General Lt. F. N,Djadder-Bedaya and dated 
April 20, the manifesto states that the rebel group,s 
purpose is to resolve, either politically or by force, the 
"Central African crisis" that continues to deepen due to 
insecurity, injustice, dire financial straits, and grave 
human rights violations. It cites the UN, AU, and 
international and religious organizations as entities it 
intends to engage "diplomatically," and calls on the GOCAR to 
protect CAR,s human rights activists, such as Nicolas 
Tiangaye, the former head of the Central African Human Rights 
League (LCDH); Nganatouwa Goungaye Wanfiyo, the current head 
of the LCDH; president of the CAR journalists, union Maka 
Gbossokotto, and labor rights advocate Noel Ramadan. The UFR 
also highlights six prerequisites that must be met by the 
GOCAR before the UFR enters into any dialogue with President 
Bozize, including the payment of seven months of civil 
service salary arrears and three months of pension allowances 
and scholarships, the release of all political detainees and 
prisoners, a guarantee of protection for CAR,s human rights 
defenders, and an end to preferential rank and treatment of 
"the ex-rebels" in the FACA. 
 
¶7. (C) The manifesto states that Bozize has been taken 
hostage by "the ex-rebels" who helped him take power in 2003 
and who act as if they are above the law.  It also cites 
several articles of the CAR constitution and the war crimes 
provisions of the Statute of Rome, provides examples of 
abuses committed by the Bozize government, emphasizes the 
marginalization of CAR students due to poor social and 
academic conditions, and calls on the political opposition 
and civil society to create a reconciliation commission and a 
political transition. Near the conclusion, it highlights 
Frace, the United States, and China as countries that 
overcame great challenges in the past to become reat nations 
of today. 
 
¶8. (C) The Archbishop is cncerned that the rebellion in Chad 
could compicate any potential peace process that might be 
ndertaken involving CAR rebels. He said there was 
significant element of Islaic radicalism behind the Chadian 
rebellion and its April 13 attack on N,djamena. The same 
radicalism was perceived in events leading up to the 2003 
coup, when pro-Bozize rebels, including many Chadian 
combatants, attacked and destroyed churches while leaving 
mosques untouched. The growth in the number of Chadian imams 
in Bangui continues to concern the Archbishop, and the (more 
moderate) imams of CAR origin are also worried about this 
trend, he said. In addition, the Catholic Church fears that 
Islam, with continued support from certain Arab countries, 
will "conquer Green Africa" (countries such as the D.R. 
Congo, Angola, and CAR), just as it conquered Sahelian 
(northern) Africa. (NOTE: Islam is not the only threat to 
Catholicism perceived by the Archbishop. He also said Bozize 
and some members of his inner circle are Free Masons and "do 
not like the Catholic Church." As evidence, he cited a 
continued failure by the Bozize government to respect an 
agreement exempting the Catholic Church from having to pay 
customs taxes. In fact, all diplomatic missions in the 
country are subject to the same policy. END NOTE.). 
 
¶9. (C) COMMENT:  It is far too early to tell whether the 
agreement by the UFR and Bozize is real and whether it will 
lead to dialogue; however, if the Archbishop continues to 
make progress as a mediator, international partners will 
likely be called on to add their moral support. The UFR 
manifesto is a fascinating glimpse into the workings of a 
rebel movement about which little is known. The group,s 
references to constitutional articles, human rights 
activists, and international human rights conventions suggest 
that N,Djadder, if not the UFR itself, is educated and 
organized. 
 
¶10. (C) Although longwinded and lacking in focus, the 
manifesto is clear about the extent to which severe financial 
problems and lack of respect for human rights have 
contributed to the insecurity that continues to plague CAR. 
In addition, the manifesto,s references to the United 
Nations coincide with rumors that N,Djadder had plans to 
visit New York and  request support for his cause from the UN 
Secretary General. It is still unclear how many other rebel 
 
SIPDIS 
groups there are in northern CAR, whether they work together 
or overlap, and whether all of them share views and goals 
similar to those of the UFR. While the Archbishop,s concerns 
about Islam might be colored by a competition for adherents 
between faiths, his references to the spread of radical Islam 
have sobering political overtones. 
 
 
 
 
WALL