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| - Eleven countries in central Africa on Friday called for an end to "crimes" in the troubled Central African Republic (CAR), a month from key elections there. Members of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), meeting in Gabon, pointed to the armed groups who control two-thirds of the CAR's territory. "The crimes committed threaten the unity of the Central African Republic and its existence," Gabonese Foreign Minister Pacome Moubelet Boubeya said. He urged CAR's "leaders" to "seize the historic opportunity of the elections to set down the foundations for reconciliation and reconstruction." One of the world's poorest and most volatile countries, the CAR is staging presidential and legislative elections on December 27. In 2013, the Seleka, a rebel coalition drawn largely from the Muslim minority, toppled then-president Francois Bozize, plunging the landlocked state into violence that forced nearly a quarter of its people to flee their homes. Under a February 2019 peace accord between the government and 14 armed groups that brought militia chiefs into the government, violence has receded in intensity but remains widespread. Bozize, 74, and his elected successor, Faustin-Archange Touadera, 63, are among 21 declared candidates for next month's vote. Touadera was among six presidents who were present in Libreville for the summit. The five other countries were represented by delegations. ECCAS, comprising 11 states in central Africa ranging from Equatorial Guinea in the west to Burundi in the east, was founded in October 1983 with the goal of establishing a common market, a quest that remains elusive. Gabon's president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, on Friday handed the revolving chairmanship of the group to his Republic of Congo counterpart, Denis Sassou-Nguesso. dyg/gir/sba/ri/pma
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