By RFIPalled on 24-01-2019Modified on 24-01-2019 at 23:24

Negotiations between the CAR government and armed groups began Thursday in Khartoum and are expected to continue until 1 February, according to sources at the African Union that oversees this process.

Virtually all the main leaders of the fourteen armed groups that control 80% of the Central African territory are present in Khartoum for these negotiations. Two were particularly expected, Nourredine Adam, leader of the Popular Front for the Renaissance of the Central African Republic (FPRC), arrived on the spot Thursday morning, and Ali Darassa at the head of the Union for the Central African Republic (UPC), which joined the capital Sudanese in the evening on Thursday, according to sources on the spot.

► RCA: the stakes of the Khartoum meeting

The two ex-Seleka warlords had been reluctant to travel from Khartoum. A Russian mission would have been instrumental in convincing them to the contrary, according to sources from the former Seleka and the African Union.

Official opening of direct dialogue between the Government of Central African Republic (#CAR) and 14 armed groups; towards lasting peace & reconciliation. I want to thank @UN for continued support, neighbouring countries for active engagement & Sudan for legendary hospitality pic.twitter.com/YwtIbRglDG

Amb. Smail Chergui (@AU_Chergui) January 24, 2019

Ex-Seleka threaten to withdraw

But a sign that this process will not be easy, the ex-Seleka threatened before the opening of these negotiations to suspend their participation if the violence that shook the city of Bambari in the night from Wednesday to Thursday continued.

Abakar Sabone, one of their spokesmen in Khartoum, accuses the Portuguese peacekeepers of killing on this occasion seven Muslim civilians, including women and children.

A source from the Minusca denies and explains that it is the operation "Bambari without armed groups" which continues. One of his patrols came up against about 30 armed elements of the UPC. Exchanges of fire followed, and on Thursday morning, an angry mob came to lay three bodies of dead people at the Minusca base. The bodies are now at Bambari morgue.

In a statement sent to RFI, the Minusca " deeply deplores the losses in lives of civilians ." The UN mission in the Central African Republic accuses the UPC of being at the origin of clashes from Wednesday to Thursday, notably attacking the positions of the peacekeepers and warns the armed group against any attempt to resettle in the city from Bambari.

■ The letter from former president Bozizé

Former Central African President François Bozizé, who lives in exile in Uganda, has just written to Moussa Faki Mahamat, the president of the African Union Commission, who oversees these negotiations. He denounced the exclusion of former Central African leaders from the ongoing process in Khartoum, for which he is responsible for the government of his country. He hopes to be invited to participate before the end of this meeting, he says, that " each entity makes its contribution to the final resolution of the Central African crisis ".

#Centrafrique: François Bozizé, former head of state of Central Africa denounces his sidelining dialogue #Khartoum #CARcrisis @RFIAfrique @ThierKhon @RJDH_RCA @MEDIARCA pic.twitter.com/AwX5HUV29n

Fridolin Ngoulou (@fridolinngoulou) January 24, 2019

    On the same subject

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    RCA: incidents continue in Bambari

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