UN aid official hopes EU force, government will stabilize Central African Republic

From the AP...

The government of Central African Republic has taken bold and encouraging steps to tackle its humanitarian crisis, but needs more outside help, a U.N. aid representative said [on] Friday.

The country, which has been affected by decades of internal instability and recent conflicts in neighboring Sudan and Chad, deserves at least as much international assistance as some of the continent's "aid darlings," said Toby Lanzer, the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator for Central African Republic.

The government was "slowly getting to grips with" developments that have seen some 300,000 people flee their homes, he said.

In September, Human Rights Watch accused government forces of being responsible for attacks on civilians in areas of rebel activity in the north of the country. The New York-based group said [that] researchers documented 119 cases of "unlawful killings" by government troops.

Lanzer said [that] the government had invited Human Rights Watch to come back to the country, and asked the International Criminal Court to open an investigation into allegations of abuses.

"I think that these two bold steps show that the government is serious about tackling the vicious cycle of violence and instability that has rocked this country for the last twenty years," he said.

"They can't do it alone, it's too poor [of] a country," said Lanzer, adding that [the] government of Central African Republic receives significantly less international aid than other countries in the region.

"It is less corrupt, it has a less-repressive regime, and it has just as many, if not more, natural resources than many, many countries in Africa that are so-called aid darlings," he said.

The European Union is due to complete plans for a peacekeeping force to deploy to Chad and Central African Republic, both affected by spillover of Sudan's Darfur conflict, a move [that] Lanzer said he hoped would help stabilize the region, by preventing armed groups from freely crossing from one country to another.