CAR Peace Deal Stakeholders To Address 'Misunderstandings' At Monday Talks - Minister

CAR Peace Deal Stakeholders to Address 'Misunderstandings' at Monday Talks - Minister

The government of the Central African Republic (CAR) and armed groups operating in the country, which signed a peace agreement last month, will address "misunderstandings" relating to the deal's implementation at a meeting organized by the African Union (AU) in Ethiopia's Addis Ababa on Monday, Maxime Kazagui, the CAR's communication minister, told Sputnik on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th March, 2019) The government of the Central African Republic (CAR) and armed groups operating in the country, which signed a peace agreement last month, will address "misunderstandings" relating to the deal's implementation at a meeting organized by the African Union (AU) in Ethiopia's Addis Ababa on Monday, Maxime Kazagui, the CAR's communication minister, told Sputnik on Friday.

The car government and 14 armed groups signed the peace agreement after 10 days of talks in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum in early February. CAR President Faustin Archange Touadera then did a cabinet reshuffle on March 3, which Moussa Faki Mahamat, the AU commission chairman, described as a "step toward inclusive and representative governance in the CAR." The AU commission chairman said in a statement last week that the AU would convene a consultation meeting of the deal's stakeholders in Addis Ababa on March 18 to follow up on the progress that has been made since the deal was signed.

"We will make a point about the misunderstanding over the appointments in the government ... It's not about resuming the negotiations, it's not at all about bringing the discussions of Khartoum to the table. It's precisely about making a point on misunderstandings over the constitution of the government, and also to find out when the other stakeholders will implement their obligations," Kazagui said.

According to the minister, representatives of certain armed groups were not happy about the recent changes in the government, which the opposition had demanded include members it selected.

"It's not a secret that there was discontent of certain armed groups over the nominations in the government ... When we asked the armed groups to send a list of five people, five Names to join the government, it did not mean that all five would join the government. They send five and the prime minister will chose maybe one, maybe two people. Some thought that all five would joint he government. So all this will be clarified," he stressed.

The minister added that meetings like this would be held regularly. The CAR government delegation to Monday's talks will be headed by the newly appointed prime minister, Firmin Ngrebada.

The Central African Republic has been suffering from a drawn-out conflict since a coup in 2013. Much of the fighting in recent years has been between Muslim-majority Seleka and Christian Anti-Balaka militias.