Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BANGUI112
2007-06-01 17:03:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Bangui
Cable title:
CAR PRESS CLIPPINGS MAY 28-JUNE 1
how-toVZCZCXRO3018 PP RUEHGI DE RUEHGI #0112 1521703 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 011703Z JUN 07 FM AMEMBASSY BANGUI TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0306 INFO RUEHNJ/AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA PRIORITY 0149 RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE PRIORITY 0125 RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA PRIORITY 0045 RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM PRIORITY 0051 RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0126 RUEHGI/AMEMBASSY BANGUI 0400
UNCLAS BANGUI 000112
SIPDIS
AF/C FOR MASHRAF; PARIS FOR GDELIA, RKANEDA;
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PBTS PGOV EAID EFIN CT
SUBJECT: CAR PRESS CLIPPINGS MAY 28-JUNE 1
UNCLAS BANGUI 000112
SIPDIS
AF/C FOR MASHRAF; PARIS FOR GDELIA, RKANEDA;
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PBTS PGOV EAID EFIN CT
SUBJECT: CAR PRESS CLIPPINGS MAY 28-JUNE 1
1. (U) Arrival of Sudanese Refugees in northern CAR: The news
was first announced early in the week by the spokesman for the
President, Mr. Cyriaque Gonda, who gave the figure of more than
1,000 persons, some of them armed, who arrived in the city of
Sam Ouandja, in the northeastern Vakaga prefecture. The
spokesman indicated that the refugees fled the current war in
Darfur to find refuge in the Central African Republic and that
the Government will disarm the armed refugees and will present
all these Sudanese to the UN High Commission for Refugees
(UNHCR) for a humanitarian assistance.
On Monday several UN relief agencies, including the World Food
Program, UNHCR, and the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, traveled to Sam Ouandja to assess the
refugee population and their needs. UNCHR Representative Bruno
Geddo said: "We did not find evidence of the presence of armed
elements in the group, and the refugees assured the mission that
everyone orginated from Daffaq [Am Dafok] in Sudan." The mission
found that the approximately 1,500 refugees were mostly women
and children, and were subsisting primarily on a diet of
mangoes. The World Food Program in coordination with donors and
other UN agencies has pledged to provide emergency food aid to
the refugees.
2. (U) Closing of the National Assembly Session: The event
took place in the presence of Prime Minister Elie Dote and
diplomats. The President of the National Assembly congratulated
the government for its current reform efforts and the good
relationship with donors. But he also urged the government to
focus of economic development, complaining that assistance from
the international community is still not enough.
3. (U) Prime Minister Elie Dote Announces a CFA 45 Billion Bond
Operation: In his presentation of the issue before the National
Assembly and diplomatic corps, the Prime Minister said that this
bond will help finance public investments already scheduled in
the budget, such as infrastructure projects (paving the
Bouar-Garoua-Mboulai road) and electricity projects (extension
of the Boali hydroelectric plant and supply of electricity to
the towns of Zongo and Bambari). This bond will be reimbursed
in five years, through the CAR government own efforts (customs
taxes and oil receipts). The Prime Minister also said that this
loan will not have much interest compared to the current 15 to
20% in local banks. He also commented that this decision is
supported by governments of the sub-region. There has not yet
been an official reaction from the Bretton Woods institutions.
An article from La Lettre du Continent expressed the surprise
and concern of some international donors, noting that the bond
will be "guaranteed by the customs receipts and the petroleum
taxes of the country paid to an account in the Central African
States Bank (BEAC)." A new local oil company is in the formative
stages with a grant of Libyan oil, the paper noted. "According
to the donors (IMF, World Bank, African Development Bank),this
bond puts in jeopardy the difficult process of bringing up to
standard the Central African financial system since 2004," the
journal added. It continued that even the U.S. State Department
might reconsider its debt relief plan in the face of the
sizeable bond.
PANOS
SIPDIS
AF/C FOR MASHRAF; PARIS FOR GDELIA, RKANEDA;
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PBTS PGOV EAID EFIN CT
SUBJECT: CAR PRESS CLIPPINGS MAY 28-JUNE 1
1. (U) Arrival of Sudanese Refugees in northern CAR: The news
was first announced early in the week by the spokesman for the
President, Mr. Cyriaque Gonda, who gave the figure of more than
1,000 persons, some of them armed, who arrived in the city of
Sam Ouandja, in the northeastern Vakaga prefecture. The
spokesman indicated that the refugees fled the current war in
Darfur to find refuge in the Central African Republic and that
the Government will disarm the armed refugees and will present
all these Sudanese to the UN High Commission for Refugees
(UNHCR) for a humanitarian assistance.
On Monday several UN relief agencies, including the World Food
Program, UNHCR, and the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, traveled to Sam Ouandja to assess the
refugee population and their needs. UNCHR Representative Bruno
Geddo said: "We did not find evidence of the presence of armed
elements in the group, and the refugees assured the mission that
everyone orginated from Daffaq [Am Dafok] in Sudan." The mission
found that the approximately 1,500 refugees were mostly women
and children, and were subsisting primarily on a diet of
mangoes. The World Food Program in coordination with donors and
other UN agencies has pledged to provide emergency food aid to
the refugees.
2. (U) Closing of the National Assembly Session: The event
took place in the presence of Prime Minister Elie Dote and
diplomats. The President of the National Assembly congratulated
the government for its current reform efforts and the good
relationship with donors. But he also urged the government to
focus of economic development, complaining that assistance from
the international community is still not enough.
3. (U) Prime Minister Elie Dote Announces a CFA 45 Billion Bond
Operation: In his presentation of the issue before the National
Assembly and diplomatic corps, the Prime Minister said that this
bond will help finance public investments already scheduled in
the budget, such as infrastructure projects (paving the
Bouar-Garoua-Mboulai road) and electricity projects (extension
of the Boali hydroelectric plant and supply of electricity to
the towns of Zongo and Bambari). This bond will be reimbursed
in five years, through the CAR government own efforts (customs
taxes and oil receipts). The Prime Minister also said that this
loan will not have much interest compared to the current 15 to
20% in local banks. He also commented that this decision is
supported by governments of the sub-region. There has not yet
been an official reaction from the Bretton Woods institutions.
An article from La Lettre du Continent expressed the surprise
and concern of some international donors, noting that the bond
will be "guaranteed by the customs receipts and the petroleum
taxes of the country paid to an account in the Central African
States Bank (BEAC)." A new local oil company is in the formative
stages with a grant of Libyan oil, the paper noted. "According
to the donors (IMF, World Bank, African Development Bank),this
bond puts in jeopardy the difficult process of bringing up to
standard the Central African financial system since 2004," the
journal added. It continued that even the U.S. State Department
might reconsider its debt relief plan in the face of the
sizeable bond.
PANOS