Central African Republic’s mainly Muslim Seleka rebels signed a ceasefire with the “anti-balaka” Christian militia on Wednesday, after having dropped their demand for the country to be split in two along religious lines.
Seleka’s call for the country to be officially partitioned into a Muslim north and a Christian south risked derailing talks in Congo Republic aimed at ending religious violence that has killed thousands of people.
The ceasefire was signed in Brazzaville after three days of talks hosted by President Denis Sassou N’Guesso, mediator in his neighbouring country’s crisis, which has forced a million people, or about a quarter of the CAR population, to flee their homes.