Luanda - The Angolan capital, Luanda, is hosting Tuesday a mini-summit of heads of State and Government of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) to discuss security issues prevailing in the Central African Republic (CAR).
The event is being held at the initiative of the Angolan president, João Lourenço, in his capacity as Acting Chairperson of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).
The meeting will bring to Luanda the Presidents of the Central African Republic, Faustin Touaderá, of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, of Congo, Dennis Sassou Nguesso, and the President of the Sovereign Transitional Council of the Republic of Sudan, Abdul Fatah al-Burhan.
High-level delegations representing Chad, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo will also take part, indicates a press release from the Secretariat for Institutional Communication and Press Affairs of the President of the Republic.
On 28 January, Luanda hosted an initial mini-summit to analyse the political and security situation in the Central African Republic.
On the occasion, the ICGLR Heads of State and Government appealed to the rebel forces in CAR to observe a unilateral and immediate cease-fire, and urged the abandonment of the siege of the city of Bangui, capital of the Central African country.
They considered the situation in the Central African Republic to be threatening and decided to hold a second mini-summit in Luanda.
Situation in the CAR
Since the coup d'état, perpetrated by the rebel group "Seleka", which led to the fall of François Bozizė, former president of the Central African President, the country has been plunged into a situation of growing insecurity.
People are being forced to leave their villages in the face of violent ethnic and religious clashes.
Since December 2020, some 60,000 citizens have fled the violence, which has plagued the CAR, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The current Head of State, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, won the presidential election on 27 December with 53.16 percent of the vote, compared to 21.69 percent for his main opponent, former Prime Minister Anicet Georges Dologuéle.
The elections took place amid a background of insecurity. Ten days before the election, six of the CAR's most powerful armed groups, which control two thirds of the territory and the majority of which support former President François Bozizė (whose candidacy was invalidated), allied themselves with the Coalition of Patriots for Change.
These armed groups launched a new offensive towards the capital Bangui on 19 January to prevent the re-election of President Touadera and the holding of the ballot.
The attack was repelled by Central African troops, with the support of some 12,000 blue helmets of Minusca, the UN peacekeeping force, and Russian paramilitaries.
The ICGLR was set up to resolve peace and security issues following the political conflicts that ravaged the region in 1994.
It groups Angola, Burundi, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
