BANGUI, Central African Republic — A Muslim rebel leader in the Central African Republic proclaimed an autonomous state in the country's north Tuesday, just days after threatening violence against voters in a constitutional referendum meant to usher in stability.
“We believe the time has come to divide the Central African Republic for the two communities to find peace,” commander Maouloud Moussa said Tuesday, speaking for Adam. Moussa added that the rebels saw no alternatives. “Christians in the northern territory can stay, because we are already family. Other Muslims elsewhere who would like to join us are welcome,” he said.
Adam is the nation’s former public security minister and a leader in the Seleka rebel movement.
The new territory, which includes the northern town of Kaga-Bangoro, a stronghold of the Muslim militia, was immediately denounced by the country’s transitional government.
“The government urges internal security forces, the international community and the international forces in the Central African Republic to do everything in their power to neutralize the capacity of these terrorists to do harm,” government spokesman Dominique Said Panguindji said.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic also denounced the rebel declaration. Diane Corner, deputy chief of the U.N. mission, said in a tweet that U.N. troops took down the Republic of Logone flag early Tuesday in the town of Ndele and replaced it with a national flag.
Central African Republic held a referendum Sunday on a new constitution that would limit the presidency to two terms and create a Senate. The vote was extended after violence and threats by the militias.
Violence on Sunday halted voting in several militia strongholds as well as Bossangoa, a town loyal to former president François Bozizé, a Christian. Five people were reported killed and 23 injured in the Muslim PK5 neighborhood of the capital, Bangui.
The U.N. mission strengthened security for the extended vote, and people in Kaba-Bangoro were able to hand in ballots without facing violence Tuesday.
The vote is also being seen as a test of whether a much-delayed national election can take place Dec. 27 as planned.
The overthrow of the president in 2013 ushered in a brutal reign in which the Seleka rebels committed atrocities. When the rebel leader left power in 2014, a swift and violent backlash by the Christian anti-Balaka militia against Muslim civilians followed. Sectarian violence has since continued.
