France risks long stay after misjudging Central African Republic
Sun Feb 23, 2014 11:04am EST
By John Irish and Daniel Flynn
PARIS/DAKAR (Reuters) - When France sent troops to halt violence
between Christians and Muslims in Central African Republic, commanders
named the mission Sangaris after a local butterfly to reflect its
short life. Three months later, it is clear they badly miscalculated.
Buoyed by a swift victory in last year's war against Islamists in
Mali, France's military predicted six months would be enough to quell
sectarian conflict in Central African Republic, which began in March
when Muslim Seleka rebels seized power in the majority Christian
country.
Some defense ministry officials said in private that a show of French
force would be enough to restore order and no shots need be fired.
With its military budget stretched by Mali, Paris gambled on sending a
small force of just 1,600 men.
Now, with the country sliding into what the top U.N. human rights
official termed 'ethnic-religious cleansing', as Muslims flee
northward to escape vicious reprisals by Christian militia, France
faces a long fight with scant support from Western allies to stop the
nation of 4.5 million people splitting in two.
France's parliament is due to vote on extending Sangaris on Tuesday,
but officials say Paris has already accepted its troops will stay at
least until elections due by February next year, at the request of
Interim President Catherine Samba Panza.
"It will take longer than expected because the level of hatred and
violence is worse than we had imagined," French Defense Minister
Jean-Yves Le Drian admitted last week. "No-one can accept partition.
It must be stopped."
More than 1 million people have already been displaced and tens of
thousands killed according to Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director
for Human Rights Watch.
Many in France wonder what their troops are doing caught in the
middle. Polls show 60 percent of French question the need to intervene
in a nation long regarded as a remote and chaotic backwater, piling
pressure on President Francois Hollande, whose ratings are already at
record lows.
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