JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A peace deal has been reached between the Central African Republic government and 14 armed groups after their first-ever direct dialogue aimed at ending years of conflict, the United Nations and African Union announced on Saturday.
Details of the deal were not immediately available. Talks began Jan. 24 in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum. “I am determined to work with the president and his government to address the concerns of our brothers who took up arms,” said cabinet director Firmin Ngrebada, according to the U.N.
The agreement represents rare hope for the impoverished, landlocked nation where interreligious and intercommunal fighting has continued since 2013. Thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced in a conflict that has sent at least two people to the International Criminal Court.
“This is a great day for Central African Republic and all its people,” said the AU commissioner for peace and security, Smail Chergui.
