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| - The former president of Central African Republic (CAR), whose return has sparked fears of an upturn in violence, said Tuesday he accepted a decision by the country's top court to bar him from contesting upcoming elections. Francois Bozize, a major figure in CAR's decades-long troubles, said in a statement he was "unreservedly accepting" a ruling issued by the Constitutional Court, "even if we all know the conditions in which it was given." He called on the CAR's disparate opposition -- an umbrella group called COD 2020 of which he is current chairman -- to unite behind a "single candidate of consensus." The authenticity of the statement was confirmed to AFP by Severin Vele Faimandi, the spokesman of Bozize's party, the KNK. A former five-star general, Bozize, 74, seized power in 2003 before being ousted a decade later by the Seleka, a rebel coalition drawn largely from the Muslim minority. The 2013 coup triggered a bloodbath between the Seleka and so-called "anti-Balaka" self-defence forces, mainly Christian and animist. France intervened militarily to push out the Seleka, ending the operation after Faustin-Archange Touadera was elected in 2016 following a transition. After spending years in exile, Bozize slipped back into the CAR in December 2019 and filed his candidacy in July. The move made him a powerful rival to Touadera's bid for re-election in the December 27 elections, but also heightened fears of a resurgence in violence. Bozize retains a large following, especially among the Gbaya ethnic group, the country's largest, and has many supporters in the army. His candidacy was rejected by the Constitutional Court on December 3. It noted that Bozize was sought in an international arrest warrant filed by the CAR in 2014 "for murder, arbitrary arrest, sequestration, arbitrary detention and torture." The court also pointed to United Nations sanctions against Bozize -- measures, it said, that meant he failed to meet "criteria of sound morality in the electoral code." The UN in 2014 ordered a freeze on any assets Bozize may hold abroad and banned him from travel, on the grounds that while in exile he had been supporting militia groups guilty of "war crimes and crimes against humanity." The court rejected four other candidacies, leaving a field of 17 dominated by Touadera, 63. Landlocked, mineral-rich and impoverished, the CAR has known little stability since gaining independence from France in 1960. Thousands of people have died since the 2013 coup, and nearly a quarter of the population of 4.7 million have fled their homes. Touadera was elected in February 2016 with two-thirds of the vote. But he has struggled to stem intercommunal strife, and militia groups control most of the country's territory, often fighting over resources. A peace accord signed in February 2019 between the government and 14 armed groups has led to a reduction in violence, although it remains entrenched. cmt-dyg/gir/thm/ri/erc
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