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 Even here, though, fear is palpable and access to the displaced,
who are sprawled out across a large field or sheltering among
rusting carcasses of abandoned airplanes, is controlled by Christian
militia men and boys, some of whom are armed with machetes.
"It was chaos. We can't return home," said Alacide Bienvenu, one of
the displaced, who sat at the checkpoint next to a young boy with a
machete resting in his hands.
"When the French have finished their job and got rid of these
people, we can return. Otherwise we'll stay here," he added,
referring to the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels who seized power in
March and went on to carry out a string of abuses, prompting the
creation of Christian defense groups.
An assault on Bangui last week by these Christian militia, aided by
gunmen loyal to ousted President Francois Bozize, sparked waves of
killings and reprisals that killed over 500 people and displaced
over 100,000 in the capital alone.
This surge has raised the number of people who have fled their homes
to over 500,000 since the coalition of northern Seleka rebels took
up arms.
The violence was the worst in a year of conflict and coincided with
France being given U.N. authorization to intervene in its former
colony, a mission aimed at bolstering an African peacekeeping
mission struggling to restore order.
Within hours, reinforcements were rushed to Bangui. Within days, two
French soldiers were killed trying to disarm militia.
On Thursday, Paris, which now has 1,600 men in the country, said
most guns had been taken off the streets of Bangui and troops had
begun disarming gunmen up-country.
"The disarming in Bangui is coming to its end," French army
spokesman Gilles Jaron said, without giving details on how many
fighters had been disarmed in the capital.
Jaron said operations were underway in Bossangoa, about 300 km (186
miles) to the north, where an African peacekeeper was killed in
fighting last week and tens of thousands of people are displaced.
"There were clashes in Bossangoa, but today the situation is calm
and under control of (African peacekeepers) ... strengthened by
arrival of French troops," he said.
In a sign of further international efforts to prevent all-out war,
the United States on Thursday began airlifting in Burundian troops
who will bolster the African force, which is due to soon fall under
African Union command.
"A MESS"
However, aid workers have warned of a deepening humanitarian crisis
in the run-down riverside capital, where cycles of violence have
forced Christians to also seek shelter in churches and monasteries
while Muslims mainly remained in their strongholds.
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Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) wrote an open letter
to the United Nations on Thursday accusing the world body of failing
in its response to the crisis.
MSF said it had repeatedly asked the United Nations to provide
supplies including food and tents but it had not received a concrete
response.
"It's really a mess, there's nobody else here," said Tessy Fautsch,
emergency medical coordinator for MSF, the only aid agency at the
airport, where the air is heavy with the stench of urine and
excrement.
Fautsch said malaria and chest infections were already problems but
the risk of further diseases was high due to the lack of water and
other organizations looking after people.
"Sanitation is almost nonexistent," Fautsch said.
Taxis returned to Bangui's streets and long lines formed at a
downtown petrol station opening for the first time in days.
However, there are reminders of simmering tensions despite
reconciliation efforts by Muslim and Christian leaders.
In the Combattants neighborhood, crowds destroyed the offices of the
National Herders' Association, targeted because it is a symbol of
the Muslim community many pastoralists belong to.
French troops later had to intervene to save Oumar Kobine Layana,
head of the country's Islamic community, after another crowd
overpowered African peacekeepers protecting him during a visit to
the St. Jacques parish near the PK5 neighborhood with a local
pastor, a spokesman for the African force said.
"I send a distress call to those who have not helped us to come and
help CAR which is in an extremely difficult situation," interim
Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye told French broadcaster RFI.
(Reporting by Emmanuel Braun; Additional reporting by Marine
Pennetier and John Irish in Paris; writing and additional reporting
by David Lewis; editing by Eric Beech)
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