Central African Republic: Failure Has Many Fathers - the Coup in the Central African Republic
PART 4
What role does the region and South Africa have in this crisis?
Several foreign forces are deployed in CAR, but they are not all involved in this crisis and above all they position themselves differently when it comes to the recent events.
After stopping the Seleka in December 2012, the leaders of the region seem to have accepted the fall of Bozizé. MICOPAX did not try to block the rebels when they moved to Bangui and the similarities between the 2003 coup and this one are striking.
At that time, Bozizé's putsch against President Ange-Félix Patassé was implicitly supported by the leaders of the region, including Chad. The positioning of the Chadian regime towards the Seleka currently raises a lot of suspicion. The French military deployed in CAR is mandated to support MICOPAX; it is following the policy of armed neutrality and is presently securing the airport and French nationals.
During this crisis, South Africa sided with Bozizé on behalf of stability and a military cooperation agreement dating back to 2007. The South African troops that protected Bangui lost 13 men, their biggest loss in a military operation since 1994.
This can be regarded as a serious blow to South African foreign policy in Africa. Until now, Pretoria did not contemplate withdrawing its military personnel from CAR. President Jacob Zuma called the Seleka fighters "bandits".
Ugandan troops and their American military advisors are located in the southeast of CAR in order to fight against the Lord's Resistance Army. The Chadian and Sudanese troops are based in Birao in order to secure the Vakaga region in the northeast of CAR.
The fact that the South African troops were the only line of defence for Bangui demonstrates clearly that coordination between the foreign forces in CAR was minimal and that their political leaders do not have the same perspective on the best way to handle the CAR crisis.
This article was originally published here at the International Crisis Group blog.
Thierry Vircoulon is International Crisis Group's Central Africa Project Director based in Nairobi, Kenya.
He has previously worked for the French Foreign Ministry and the European Commission, notably in South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most of his work is focusing on governance and SSR. He is also part of the OECD group of experts on statebuilding and peacebuilding.
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