Morocco expresses full support for Central African Republic Peace Agreement

Morocco expressed its full support for the implementation of the Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in the Central African Republic (CAR), Morocco’s foreign ministry said.

The agreement provides, inter alia, for elections, national reconciliation, social cohesion and transitional justice; facilitating the creation of a secure environment for the delivery of humanitarian assistance; and the protection of the UN staff.

Morocco is today the “most committed” African partner for peace in the CAR, said Morocco’s foreign minister Nasser Bourita at a press briefing in Rabat following talks with visiting Mankeur Ndiaye, special representative of UN Secretary-General in CAR and head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in CAR (MINUSCA).

The visit came prior to the adoption by the UN Security Council of a resolution renewing the mandate of the MINUSCA, and the authorization for French forces in CAR to use all means to support MINUSCA at the request of the UN Secretary-General.

Morocco has deployed 762 blue helmets in the MINUSCA, who, he said, have succeeded in establishing bonds of trust with local populations regardless of their religious affiliations, said Bourita.

For his part Ndiaye hailed Morocco for his African solidarity by sending peacekeepers six years ago to the CAR.

Morocco is a reliable partner to CAR in terms of training judges, soldiers, diplomats, and grants scholarships to hundreds of Central African students, he said.

According to the UN Secretary General, military confrontations between CAR security forces and MINUSCA have subsided, and human rights violations linked to the conflict have decreased. However, armed groups have been fighting each other and breaching the agreement through violence against civilians, illegal taxation, and obstructing the deployment of state institutions and security forces.

Since 2013, the Central African Republic has been mired in a civil conflict after clashes surged between the mainly Muslim Séléka rebel coalition and Anti-Balaka militias.