C. African Republic places great hope on UN force

UNITED NATIONS — The president of the transitional government in conflict-torn Central African Republic said yesterday the country has great hopes the new UN peacekeeping mission will help restore security and promote development.

Catherine Samba-Panza told the UN General Assembly that the success of the UN force will hinge on the involvement of the country's security and defense forces at its side.

Months of fighting between a mostly Muslim rebel coalition and a Christian militia have left at least 5,000 people dead in one of Africa's least developed countries. The country's forces have been ineffective in halting the violence.

Samba-Panza said that after a July 23 cease-fire agreement it is time to bring all parties together to consider "a new republic and pact to recast the Central African state. "The UN took over peacekeeping efforts earlier this month from the African Union.

UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous later told reporters that it will take another three or four months for the rest of the peacekeeping force to arrive in the country. He said that 1,700 or so soldiers have been in place since Sept. 15, when the UN took over the mission.

While "the logistics in a landlocked country like Central African Republic are absolutely daunting," he said the mission so far is going "pretty well."

The security situation in the capital, Bangui, is far better but nothing is totally solved, Ladsous said, with some violence continuing in PK5, one of the last neighborhoods where Muslims still live after a mass exodus following brutal violence earlier this year.