March 25 Photo Brief: Spring snow on the East Coast, Supreme Court takes on Prop. 8, rebels capture Central African Republic, a 130 ft Lord Buddha statue
Spring snow on the East Coast, Supreme Court takes on Prop. 8, rebels capture Central African Republic, a 130 foot Lord Buddha statue and more in today’s daily brief.
- Marriage equality supporters take part in a march and rally ahead of U.S. Supreme Court arguments on legalizing same-sex marriage in New York on March 24, 2013. The US Supreme Court will consider the divisive issue of legalizing same-sex marriage, in a hotly anticipated hearing on March 26 and 27 that could have historic consequences for American family life. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on two cases related to the right to marry. These two cases, which concern the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s Proposition 8, are fundamentally about whether gay and lesbian Americans can enjoy the same freedoms and opportunities as everyone else. (Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)
- Seleka coalition rebels patrol on March 25, 2013 in Bangui. The UN Security Council will hold urgent talks on March 25 after a bloody coup in Central Africa sent ousted leader Francois Bozize fleeing across the border, and left 13 South African soldiers dead. Seleka coalition rebels seized the capital Bangui on March 24 after the collapse of a two-month-old peace deal with Bozize’s regime. Bangui was on edge on March 25 as residents waited for a formal statement by rebel leader Michel Djotodia declaring himself president. (Sia Kambou/AFP/Getty Images)
- This handout picture taken on March 22, 2013 and released on March 24, 2013 shows French troops sitting in a plane as they arrive at Bangui’s airport. France has sent 350 soldiers to the Central African Republic, whose capital Bangui has been taken by rebels, to ensure the security of French nationals and other foreigners, a senior official said Sunday. (Elise Foucaud/EMA-EDPAD via AFP/Getty Images)
- Danny Josephson (L) and his wife Jesse (R) ride in his father Kent Josephson’s 1953 Willys Jeep with a Browning .30 caliber machine gun attached at the center during the Big Sandy Shoot in Mohave County, Arizona, March 23, 2013. The Big Sandy Shoot is the largest organized machine gun shoot in the United States attended by shooters from around the country. Vintage and replica style machine guns and cannons are some of the weapons displayed during the event. Picture taken March 22, 2013. (Joshua Lott/Reuters)
- A police trooper stands guard as defendants Abdulkarim Lalji (L) and Hani Ahmad Mohammad (2nd L), convicted of spying for Iran, stand with other defendants behind courtroom bars at a state security court of appeals in Sanaa March 25, 2013. The court on Monday commuted the death sentences of Lalji and Mohammad to five years in prison. The pair were convicted in 2009 of providing the Iranian Embassy in Yemen with military information, according to the Yemen News Agency (SABA). (Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)
- Penitents walk to their church before taking part in the procession of “Santa Genoveva” brotherhood during Holy Week in the Andalusian capital of Seville, southern Spain, March 25, 2013. Hundreds of Easter processions take place around the clock in Spain during Holy Week, drawing thousands of visitors. (Marcelo del Pozo/Reuters)
- An honor guard marches during the changing of the guards ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall during snowfall in central Moscow, March 25, 2013. (Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)
- Competitors warm up in the hallway at the World Irish Dancing Championships in Boston, Massachusetts March 24, 2013. (Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters)
- An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man is seen through the smoke as they burn leaven in the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover, March 25, 2013. Passover commemorates the flight of Jews from ancient Egypt, as described in the Exodus chapter of the Bible. According to the account, the Jews did not have time to prepare leavened bread before fleeing to the promised land. (Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)
- Hindu priests spray colored water on devotees during holi celebrations at the Bankey Bihari temple in Vrindavan in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh March 25, 2013. Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, heralds the beginning of spring and is celebrated all over India. (Vivek Prakash/Reuters)
- Tanzanian women queue to bid farewell to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan at the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, March 25, 2013. China’s new president told Africans on Monday he wanted a relationship of equals that would help the continent develop, responding to concerns that Beijing is only interested in shipping out its raw materials. (Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)
- People walk past a branch of Bank of Cyprus in Bucharest March 25, 2013. Cyprus clinched a last-ditch deal with international lenders to shut down its second largest bank and inflict heavy losses on uninsured depositors, including wealthy Russians, in return for a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout. (Bogdan Cristel/Reuters)
- A protester who opposes the Muslim Brotherhood throws a burning tyre towards police guarding the Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo, March 22, 2013. Several thousand opponents of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood clashed with supporters of the Islamist group near its headquarters in Cairo on Friday, and at least 40 people were wounded, authorities said. (Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)
- Buddhist monks and devotees gather for the inauguration of the 130 foot Lord Buddha statue by Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama at Buddha Park in Rabong in South Sikkim on March 25, 2013. The Buddha park named ‘Tathagatatsal’ covers an area of 23 acres and was formally inaugurated by Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama. (Diptendu Dutta/AFP/Getty Images)
- Children took advantage of a snow day by sledding at Dumbarton Middle School under the watch of a very large “Easter Snowman” in Maryland. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)
- The White House on Pennsylvania Avenue March 25, 2013 in Washington, DC. A messy Monday is in store for millions along the East Coast, with winter weather advisories warning of a mixture of snow and rain for Washington, DC, Philadelphia, metropolitan New York and parts of northeast New Jersey. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
- A homeless man sits covered in snow early on March 25, 2013 in Washington, DC. A messy Monday is in store for millions along the East Coast, with winter weather advisories warning of a mixture of snow and rain for Washington, DC, Philadelphia, metropolitan New York and parts of northeast New Jersey. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)
- An African fishing eagle catches a fish in Lake Baringo, Kenya on March 24, 2013. The African fishing eagle in Lake Baringo is under threat as goat farmers in the area have taken to throwing fish laced with poison into the river to kill off crocodiles which eat their cattle. The fish eagles see the fish and consume them first leading to a fall in their population. (Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images)
- Ilulissat Greenland is a UNESCO World Heritage site because the small town is next to the most active glacier in the Northern Hemisphere. The town has 4600 residents and about 3500 sled dogs and can only be reached by plane or boat. Even in winter fishermen who catch halibut and shrimp go out in small boats to fish amid the icebergs. (Ellen Creager/Detroit Free Press/MCT)
- Parts of the skeleton and organs of a horse are painted on a horse at the equestrian fair Equitana in Essen, western Germany, on March 24, 2013. Under the motto ‘horses inside out’, the white horse advertises a book by Gillian Higgins, which is about the anatomy of horses. (Bernd Thissen/AFP/Getty Images)
- Stella Ferruzola, 3, poses with a Blue Morpho butterfly on her nose at the Sensational Butterflies Exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London March 25, 2013. (Luke MacGregor/Reuters)
Central African Republic rebel chief to name power-sharing government
Ange Aboa and Paul-Marin Ngoupana | Reuters
1:40 p.m. EDT, March 25, 2013
BANGUI (Reuters) – The leader of rebels in Central African Republic pledged to name a power-sharing government in a bid to defuse international criticism of Sunday’s coup that killed 13 South African soldiers and plunged the mineral-rich nation into chaos.
Regional peacekeepers said that leader of the Seleka rebel coalition, self-proclaimed President Michel Djotodia, appealed for their help in restoring order after his own men joined in a second day of looting in the riverside capital Bangui.
The rebels’ ouster of President Francois Bozize was swiftly condemned by the United Nations and the African Union. But in a sign of pragmatism, the United States, France and regional powerbroker Chad called on the insurgents to respect a January peace deal creating a unity government.
Some 5,000 Seleka fighters swept into the capital on Sunday after a lightning offensive in which they fought their way from the far north to the presidential palace in four days after a the collapse of the power-sharing agreement signed in the Gabonese capital Libreville.
Neighboring Cameroon confirmed on Monday that Bozize had arrived there but said it was not giving him permanent refugee.
The removal of Bozize, who himself seized power in a 2003 coup backed by Chad, was just the latest in a series of rebellions since the poor, landlocked country won independence from France in 1960.
“We will respect the Libreville accord, which means a political transition of 2 to 3 years before elections,” Seleka spokesman Eric Massi said by telephone.
The Libreville deal – drafted by regional mediators after the rebels besieged Bangui in December – had created a government drawn from Bozize loyalists, rebel leaders and the civilian opposition.
Massi said that civilian opposition member Nicolas Tiangaye would remain as prime minister with a slightly rejigged cabinet.
In the sprawling capital, 600,000 residents remained without power and running water for a third day, preventing Djotodia from making a planned national address from the presidential palace.
Despite a curfew, there was widespread pillaging of offices, public buildings and businesses by rebels and civilians.
“Public order is the biggest problem right now,” said General Jean Felix Akanga, commander of the regional African peacekeeping force. “Seleka’s leaders are struggling to control their men. The president has asked us to help restore calm.”
He said the rebels would start to confine their forces to barracks from Monday.
“SAD MOMENT” FOR SOUTH AFRICA
With France’s military contingent refusing to intervene, two heavily armed columns of insurgents in pick up trucks stormed into Bangui on Sunday, brushing aside a South African force of 400 troops which attempted to block their path.
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma said at least 13 soldiers were killed and 27 others wounded in the fighting, the worst military setback for Pretoria since the end of apartheid and an embarrassing snub to its efforts to project its power in the resource-rich heart of Africa.
“It is a sad moment for our country,” Zuma said, adding that another soldier was still missing. “The actions of these bandits will not deter us from our responsibility of working for peace and stability in Africa.”
Zuma said South Africa had not decided yet whether or not to withdraw its force, which he said had inflicted heavy casualties on the rebels during a 9-hour attack on their base.
“This is complete disaster for South Africa,” said Thierry Vircoulon, Central African specialist at International Crisis Group. “They did not at all understand they were backing the wrong horse. They did not consult within the region.”
Seleka, a loose coalition of five rebel groups whose name means “alliance” in the Songo language, was formed last year after Bozize had failed to implement power-sharing in the wake of disputed 2011 elections boycotted by the opposition.
It resumed hostilities on Thursday after military leaders of the group detained its five members of Bozize’s government and accused the president of violating January’s peace deal by failing to integrate 2,000 of its fighters into the army.
“The movements that make up Seleka have a long history of divisions,” Vircoulon said. “The cohesion of Seleka will be tested now they are in full control.”
Despite rich deposits of gold, diamonds and uranium, Central African Republic remains one of the world’s least developed and most unstable nations.
Bozize rose to prominence in the military during the 1966-1979 rule of dictator Jean-Bedel Bokassa, a self-styled emperor found guilty of the murder of schoolchildren and other crimes.
In recent years, Bozize’s government had hosted U.S. Special Forces helping regional armies hunt down the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels, led by a Ugandan warlord, who have killed thousands of civilians during decades of conflict.
FRENCH NATIONALS SAFE
Paris, which already had 250 soldiers in Central African Republic, has sent another 300 troops to ensure the security of its citizens and diplomatic missions.
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said there was no need to evacuate the 1,200 French nationals, most of whom are in the capital. “Things are under control from our point of view regarding French nationals,” Fabius said on Europe 1 radio.
French President Francois Hollande spoke to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Chadian President Idriss Deby to suggest that any solution to the crisis should be based on the January Libreville agreement, Fabius added.
“For now, there is no legitimate authority there,” he said, adding that it was not up to France to intervene in the internal affairs of the country.
The U.S. State Department also called on the Seleka to ensure the implementation of the Libreville agreement and provide full support to Tiangaye’s government. Regional military power Chad said the same in a statement on Sunday.
(Additional reporting by Leigh Thomas in Paris; Writing by Daniel Flynn and David Lewis; Editing by Peter Graff and Anna Willard)