LIBREVILLE, Oct 1, 2008 (AFP) - A law passed in the Central African Republic to protect rebels and certain goverment officials from prosecution for some crimes is 'unacceptable,' rebel leader Jean-Jacques Demafouth said Wednesday.

BRUSSELS, Sept 29, 2008 (AFP) - The European Union military force in Chad and the Central African Republic will strive to ensure that no security vacuum develops as a UN force takes over next year, the EU commander vowed Monday.

BANGUI, Sept 29, 2008 (AFP) - A rebel group in Central African Republic seized control of a village near the Sudanese border in the north of the country overnight, police said Monday.

BANGUI, Sept 28, 2008 (AFP) - Fifteen people were killed and about 20 injured in the Central African Republic when a tanker truck flipped and caught fire, a hospital source said Sunday.

The truck overturned on Saturday in Gbahon, north of the capital Bangui, and residents attempted to collect the petrol that leaked out of the vehicle.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 17, 2008 (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon is urging the dispatch of 6,000 UN troops to replace a European Union force in restive eastern Chad and northeast Central African Republic (CAR), according to a report released Wednesday.

The EU's military force, known as EUFOR, currently numbers 3,300 troops and its mandate is set to expire next March 15.

LIBREVILLE, Sept 15, 2008 (AFP) - The Central African Republic (CAR) and a leading rebel group came closer to drafting a peace deal in talks that resumed in Gabon on Monday following collapsed negotiations last month.

LIBREVILLE, September 13, 2008 (AFP) - Peace talks between the government of the Central African Republic and a leading rebel group are set to resume in Gabon Monday after collapsing in August, the group's leader told AFP on Saturday.

Authorities in the Central African Republic gave the green light Saturday for a leading rebel group ...

BANGUI, August 1, 2008 (AFP) - A leading rebel group in the Central African Republic on Friday withdrew from peace discussions due under a June agreement, its leader said in a statement.

BANGUI, August 1, 2008 (AFP) - French nuclear group Areva on Friday signed a deal with the Central African Republic government to mine uranium at a previously disputed site, officials said.

LISBON, July 22, 2008 (AFP) - Portuguese authorities have seized a yacht and a private plane belonging to a former Congolese rebel leader accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, a report said Tuesday.

THE HAGUE, July 4, 2008 (AFP) - Former Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba made his first appearance Friday before the International Criminal Court where he stands accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Bemba entered the courtroom accompanied by security guards and took his seat quietly behind his legal team.

THE HAGUE, July 4, 2008 (AFP) - Former Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba made his first appearance Friday before the International Criminal Court where he stands accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Bemba entered the courtroom accompanied by security guards and took his seat quietly behind his legal team.

THE HAGUE, July 4, 2008 (AFP) - Former Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba was to make his first appearance Friday before the International Criminal Court where he faces trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Bemba was transferred to the detention unit of the court in The Hague Thursday from Brussels where he was arrested on an ICC warrant on May 24.

THE HAGUE, July 3, 2008 (AFP) - Former Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba arrived in the Netherlands on Thursday to face war crimes charges before the International Criminal Court, said prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

Bemba was transferred to The Hague from Brussels where he was arrested on May 24 on an ICC warrant.

BRUSSELS, July 3, 2008 (AFP) - Former Democratic Republic of Congo rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba was on his way Thursday to The Hague to face war crimes charges, a source close to the case told AFP.

'He has left prison' in the Brussels district of Saint-Gilles and was on his way to The Hague, said the official, on condition of anonymity.

BRUSSELS, July 1, 2008 (AFP) - A Belgian court on Tuesday cleared the way for former Democratic Republic of Congo rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba to be transferred to The Hague to face war crimes charges.

Belgium's highest court rejected a charge by Bemba's lawyers that the legal procedures followed since his arrest in Brussels in May had been irregular.

BRUSSELS, July 1, 2008 (AFP) - Former Democratic Republic of Congo rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, accused of war crimes, will ask the UN Security Council to suspend his case, one of his lawyers told AFP on Tuesday.

BRUSSELS, June 5, 2008 (AFP) - A Belgian court on Thursday turned down an appeal for the release of former Democratic Republic of Congo rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, arrested last month on war crimes charges.

The Brussels appeal court upheld the decision of a lower court which last week refused to free Bemba from detention, his lawyer Aime Kilolo Musamba said.

BRUSSELS, June 4, 2008 (AFP) - Thirty supporters of former Democratic Republic of Congo vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba protested in front of the main courthouse in Brussels on Wednesday, calling for his immediate release.

'Free Bemba, arrest Kabila,' the protesters demanded, referring to the former leader's fierce rival and current Congolese President Joseph Kabila.

NDJAMENA, June 2, 2008 (AFP) - The commander of the European Union force in Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR) said Monday that he sees no likelihood of a fresh rebel attack on Chad's capital Ndjamena.

Belgian justice authorities decided Wednesday to hold in custody former Democratic Republic of Congo vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba, who is accused of war crimes, one of his lawyers said.

'The decision has been handed down. Unfortunately he will not get out today. The request for his unconditional release was rejected,' lawyer Aime Kilolo Musamba told AFP.

Former Democratic Republic of Congo leader Jean-Pierre Bemba Wednesday asked Belgian authorities to release him and vowed to cooperate with the International Criminal Court which ordered his arrest for alleged war crimes.

KINSHASA, May 26, 2008 (AFP) - Thousands demonstrated on Monday in the power base of former Democratic Republic of Congo vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba to protest his arrest in Belgium on war crimes charges, the UN and witnesses said.

BANGUI, May 11, 2008 (AFP) - Residents in the Central African Republic appealed Monday for international help to curb cross-border rebel raids in which more than 150 children and adults people have been kidnapped.

KINSHASA, May 25, 2008 (AFP) - Supporters of ex-Democratic Republic of Congo presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba accused the International Criminal Court of 'politicisation' of its remit Sunday amid moves to extradite him on war crimes charges.

THE HAGUE, May 25, 2008 (AFP) - Belgian authorities have arrested Jean-Pierre Bemba, former vice-president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, on an International Criminal Court warrant alleging war crimes in the Central African Republic.

BANGUI, May 20, 2008 (AFP) - A former Central African Republic minister has been suspended by the party he founded -- the Democratic Forum for Modernity (Fodem) -- for alleged links to rebel forces, the party said Tuesday.

'Fodem's political office took the solemn decision to suspend Charles Massi,' the party secretary general Nicaise Salle told AFP.

LIBREVILLE, May 9, 2008 (AFP) - The Central African Republic (CAR) government and the country's main rebel group on Friday signed a ceasefire agreement in a bid to end three years of unrest, a government spokesman said.

The accord was signed by the government and the People's Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD) in the Gabon capital, Libreville.

LIBREVILLE, May 9, 2008 (AFP) - The government of Central African Republic (CAR), plagued by unrest since 2005, and the country's main rebel group signed a ceasefire and peace accord Friday to take effect immediately, a government spokesman said.

ABECHE, Chad, May 7, 2008 (AFP) - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told grieving aid workers in Abeche Wednesday there was 'no miracle' solution to their security, after the killing of a French colleague last week.

NDJAMENA, May 7, 2008 (AFP) - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana met grieving aid workers in Abeche, Chad's eastern city, Wednesday as part of a visit to inspect EU forces protecting Sudanese refugees from nearby Darfur.

NDJAMENA, May 7, 2008 (AFP) - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana was Wednesday due to round off a visit to inspect European Union forces protecting refugees from Sudan's war-torn Darfur in Chad and the Central African Republic.

N'DJAMENA, May 6, 2008 (AFP) - The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana arrived in Chad's capital late Tuesday on the second leg of his visit inspecting EU forces protecting refugees from Darfur.

BANGUI, May 6, 2008 (AFP) - The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana arrived here Tuesday for a first inspection of an EU force in the Central African Republic (CAR) and neighbouring Chad to protect Sudanese refugees who fled troubled Darfur.

Solana, EU high representative for security policy, was set for talks with CAR President Francois Bozize.

BANGUI, April 29, 2008 (AFP) - A peace pact between the government of the Central African Republic and the country's main rebel group will be signed in the next few days in Libreville, capital of Gabon, a UN official said Tuesday.

LONDON, April 22, 2008 (AFP) - Central African countries and the United Nations must work jointly to secure the release of hundreds of men, women and children kidnapped by Ugandan rebels, Amnesty International said Tuesday.