C.Africa Strongman Forms Transition Council
The rebel strongman who seized power in the Central African Republic last month, Michel Djotodia, on Saturday ordered the creation of a transitional body to designate an interim president for the country.
The decree complies with demands from the six-nation Economic Community of Central African States, which rejected Djotodia's initial bid to declare himself president after his Seleka rebel coalition grabbed the capital Bangui on March 24, ousting President Francois Bozize.
The signed order establishes a 97-member transitional council that will elect a new interim president who will rule for no more than 18 months.
The council, to include members from across the political spectrum as well as union, judicial and religious figures, will take on legislative responsibilities normally carried out by parliament.
Djotodia may end up becoming the council's nominated interim president, observers said.
"We could see it being Mr Djotodia," the EU ambassador to Bangui, Guy Samzun, told Agence France Presse.
He "is not at all excluded from the process, far from it," Samzun said.
A figure close to Bozize's toppled regime also acknowledged, on condition of anonymity, that "Seleka has won and we can't just make it disappear like that."
Source: Agence France Presse
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