The Case Of The British Pilot Imprisoned After Discovering A Suspected LRA Massacre Site

British Pilot Imprisoned After Discovering Suspected LRA Massacre -- The Telegraph

A British pilot working for a big game hunter in the Central African Republic has been imprisoned for a month without charge after he discovered the site of a suspected Lord's Resistance Army massacre.

Investigators in the capital, Bangui, arrested David Simpson, 24, after six hours of interrogation during which they said they held him responsible for the deaths of 18 villagers in the remote south-east of the country.

"It's absolutely ridiculous, there is not a shred of evidence beyond hearsay, but still they've held me illegally, without charge, for more than a month," Mr Simpson told The Daily Telegraph on a mobile phone smuggled into his prison cell.

Read more ....

My Comment: I suspect that such crimes are actually more common than what is being reported in the hot spots of Africa.

Central African Republic Clash Leaves 18 Dead

From Yahoo News/AFP:

BANGUI (AFP) – The government in the Central African Republic said Wednesday that 15 rebels and three soldiers were killed in recent fighting in the northwest of the country.

The junior defence minister, Jean-Francis Bozize, said in a statement that the casualty toll from Friday "comes to three dead on the side of the regular forces and 15 killed among the armed bandits" near the town of Ndele.

He dismissed an earlier claim by the rebels of the Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace (CPJP) that they had killed 24 soldiers in the fighting and that the army had started the fighting.

Read more ....

My Comment: All of the Central African Republic's neighbors are experiencing wars and insurgencies. It should not be a surprise that some of this conflict is now seeping into its territory.

Central African Troops, Rebels, Report Deadly Clashes

Central African Republic Army Forces soldiers are pictured at a military camp in Birao, in 2008. Government troops and rebels in the Central African Republic have been involved in deadly clashes in the northwest of the country, sources on both sides told AFP Saturday. (AFP/File/Fred Dufour)

From Yahoo News/AFP:

BANGUI (AFP) – Government troops and rebels in the Central African Republic have been involved in deadly clashes in the northwest of the country, sources on both sides told AFP Saturday.

Rebels of the Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace (CPJP) said they had killed 24 soldiers in the fighting at Ndele, while the army said they had lost two men.

"The clashes lasted a few hours during the day (Friday)," said a statement from CPJP spokesman Assan M'bringa Togbo, sent AFP in Libreville.

"The current toll in the ranks of the enemy is 24 dead -- including three officers -- and some wounded," the statement added.

Read more ....

My Comment: This part of Africa is swarming with different warlords, tribal groups hostile towards each other, and a spilling over of fighters from other neighboring countries. Central Africa is perceived by some as a failed state .... these clashes only reinforce this perception.

Central African Republic Another Chaotic Country In Africa

From Defense Technology News:

December 17, 2008: Representatives of most political or armed groups in the country have been meeting in the capital since December 8th, for two weeks to negotiations to try and work out a peace deal. So far, so good, and there is some optimism that some kind of useful deal will be agreed to by the end of the negotiations on the 20th. But no final and complete deal is expected. There are simply too many groups with too many conflicting goals.

"Spillover warfare" from Sudan and Chad continues to plague the Central African Republic (CAR). The government claims that the Popular Army for the Restoration of the Republic and Democracy (APRD), which has bases in the country's northern areas near Chad, intends to topple President Francois Bozize, and is responsible for many attacks on towns and villages along the Chad-CAR border. The APRD, which had agreed to a ceasefire deal in June 2008, denied the accusation. The APRD and the government have been at odds over "the amnesty agreement" that was supposed to solidify the ceasefire and become the global peace accord" (yes, that's the name the government used to describe the initial deal). The ceasefire was supposed to give the CAR rebels political and criminal amnesty-- of some type. Negotiations on the details broke down in August 2008.

Read more ....

My Comment: Another African failed state.

Eleven Killed In Ambush In CentrAfrica: Army

Central African Republic (CAR) soldiers take part in a 2004 military parade in Bangui. Eleven people -- nine of them CAR troops -- were killed in an ambush by rebels near the border with Chad. (AFP/File/Desirey Minkoh)

From Yahoo News/AFP:

BANGUI (AFP) – Eleven people, nine of them government troops, died earlier this week in an ambush by rebels in the north of the Central African Republic near the border with Chad, military sources said on Thursday.

An earlier report based on information from families had put the number of soldiers killed at 13.

The incident took place Tuesday near Kabo, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of the capital Bangui, the army said. Reinforcements have been sent to the area.

Read more ....