Paris - France on Monday urged a halt to violence in the Central African Republic, its notoriously unstable former colony, following a weekend coup when rebels overran the capital and seized power.
"France, in keeping with its principles, cannot but condemn the recourse to force to seize power," foreign ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said in a statement that stopped short of calling for the restoration of the ousted regime of President Francois Bozize.
"France urges the rebel forces to abstain from any acts of violence targeting the civil population or foreigners," Lalliot said. "The looting must stop and order be re-established forthwith."
The weekend onslaught on the capital Bangui by the Seleka rebel coalition led Bozize, who took power himself in a 2003 coup, to flee to Cameroon and claimed the lives of 13 South African soldiers.
South Africa had deployed 200 soldiers to the Central African Republic in January to support government troops. France despatched 300 more soldiers to the country over the weekend, boosting its total number of troops there to 550.
The country, which has a population of about 4.5 million, has been unstable since its independence from France in 1960, with a history of coups and mutinies. - Sapa-AFP
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