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| Central African Republic's President Faustin-Archange Touadera |
Central African
Republic's newly elected president, Faustin-Archange Touadera, said at his
inauguration on Wednesday that he would focus on building peace and enacting
reforms to end years of violent turmoil in the impoverished, landlocked nation.
Reuters
report continues:
A
former prime minister, Touadera won a presidential run-off last month in what
was widely seen as a step towards reconciliation after years of violent
turmoil.
But
huge challenges remain in Central African Republic, (CAR), one of the world's
most unstable countries, which is divided along ethnic and religious lines and
is largely still controlled by warlords.
Touadera
said he aimed to disarm the country's rival factions, reform the armed forces
and boost the agriculture sector.
"I
will make sure to quickly apply the Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation
and Reintegration programme," he said in his inauguration speech.
"We're
going to make CAR a united country, a country of peace, a country facing
development."
In
one bright spot, the country's economy grew by 4.9 percent last year, the
biggest growth in 16 years, as it began to emerge from years of conflict. In
2013 it had contracted by 37 percent.
CAR,
a former French colony, suffered the worst crisis in its history in early 2013
when mainly Muslim Seleka fighters toppled President Francois Bozize.
Christian militias
responded to Seleka abuses by attacking the Muslim minority. A fifth of the
population fled their homes to escape the violence.
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