Rebels and the government of this Central African nation signed a peace and power-sharing deal on Friday. «The accord has been signed and we believe that peace has finally taken root in the Central African Republic,» said Gen. Raymond Ndougou by telephone, the head of the army who signed the deal on behalf of the government in the northeastern town of Birao, the rebel base, according to AP. Damane Zakaria, the military chief of the rebel Union of Democratic Forces Coalition, known by its French acronym, UFDR, signed on that group's behalf. «We are all ready to extend our hands to begin the reconstruction of our country,» Zakaria said by telephone. «The time has come to make peace.» The UFDR rebels are only one of several rebel groups active in the nation of 3.6 million _ another rebellion has waxed and waned in the northwest. Still, the proposed peace deal could bring stability to the northeast, where French mirage jets were recently sent to bombard Birao in an effort to put down the rebellion. According to a draft of the peace accord shown to The Associated Press, both government forces and UFDR rebels have agreed to end hostilities. The UFDR has agreed to sequester its men in an army cantonment, from where they will eventually be reintegrated into the national army. In return, the government has agreed to accept the UFDR as a political party, which will contribute to the management of the country so long as it does not resort to violence, the draft agreement said. A law will be passed extending amnesty to former UFDR fighters and a joint committee will be set up to monitor the peace process, the draft said. President Francois Bozize along with U.N. officials flew to Birao, roughly 530 kilometers (330 miles) from the capital of Bangui early Friday morning to oversee the signing. Also in attendance was the French military attache to Central African Republic. France recently added 100 troops to its 200 soldiers in Central African Republic to aid the government in countering the rebellion and to help secure borders with Chad and Sudan, both wracked by internal conflict. Central African Republic has suffered decades of army revolts, coups and rebellions since it gained independence from France in 1960. Poor and landlocked, it is governed by Bozize, who came to power in a 2003 rebel war that ousted his predecessor, Ange-Felix Patasse. -- SPA
