LIANDA, Angola
The President of Angola called for more international support for peace and security in the Central African Republic (CAR), neutralisation of dissident forces in the country, respect for the ceasefire and suspension of the arms embargo at the United Nations on Wednesday.
João Lourenço was speaking at a United Nations (UN) Security Council meeting in New York on CAR, in his capacity as president of the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).
“The Government of Angola recognises that international support is increasingly important now to contribute to efforts aimed at ensuring peace and stability in the CAR,” he said.
The “security situation in the Great Lakes region, particularly in the Central African Republic, is characterised by the active presence of armed groups,” which committed to the political agreement of 6 February 2019 to cease hostilities.
He also stressed that it was important “that the Central African authorities work to neutralise the internal forces bent on deteriorating good relations with the United Nations and with influential members of the Security Council”.
He defended lifting of the arms embargo imposed by the UN Security Council on the CAR, “which makes it impossible for the Central African government to acquire arms”, considering that the measure is no longer appropriate to the current situation and denies the “inalienable right” of all states to “create their own capacity to defend themselves from internal and external threats”.
The international community and the United Nations are sending “the wrong message” by “preventing the construction of real armed forces, up to the challenges of the country and the troubled region.
He warned that the “epicentre” of international terrorism had been transferred from the Middle East to Africa and considered that the situation could exacerbate the proliferation of terrorism and increase the threat to peace and stability.
Stressing the importance of the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (Minusca), he said that “it is time to help the CAR to train its troops and equip the Armed Forces with arms and equipment, so that it can start walking with its own legs and be in a position to guarantee its own defence and security.
Referring to several high-level official meetings in the ICGLR, João Lourenço reiterated that the armed groups in CAR had assumed the commitment to “abandon the armed struggle and adhere to the programme of disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration and repatriation.
In this regard, he welcomed the proposed “joint roadmap for peace in the CAR,” which “defines the main activities to be developed,” constructed in May and June between foreign ministers of the CAR, Angola and Rwanda after several meetings in the Central African capital, Bangui.
He told the UN Security Council that at the second summit on the political and security situation in the CAR on 20 April, the ICGLR urged “the armed groups not to carry out actions that jeopardise a ceasefire.
He also repeated the appeal made by the heads of state and government to the international community, in particular the UN, “to encourage regional efforts to revive the political agreement for peace and reconciliation”.
Ranked by the UN as the second least developed country in the world, the CAR has been facing a civil war since 2013, which has, however, decreased considerably in intensity since 2018.
Portugal currently has 241 military personnel in CAR, 183 of which are part of Minusca.
The remaining 58 Portuguese military personnel participate in the training mission, promoted by the European Union, until September this year.
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