Central African Republic rejects militia ceasefire deal

BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic's government rejected on Thursday a ceasefire deal signed in Kenya between rival militia groups that calls for an amnesty for those responsible for more than a year of sectarian violence in which thousands have died.

The talks, between a splinter group of the mainly Muslim Seleka alliance and a faction of the 'anti-balaka' militia who oppose them, were held in Kenya, outside the auspices of a government-led peace process in Central African Republic (CAR).

According to the final draft of the accord, seen by Reuters, it called for a new transitional government to be appointed to replace interim President Catherine Samba Panza's cabinet.

The draft also said French forces deployed in CAR should be put under the command of a United Nations peacekeeping mission.

"The government categorically rejects the Nairobi accord because it was not associated with the discussions in any way," Communications Minister Georges Adrien Poussou told Reuters.

"It is not a real accord, rather it's a series of grievances from the two armed groups which hold the country hostage."

CAR has been gripped by violence since the Seleka seized power in March 2013. The group relinquished power last year in the face of a violent backlash by the 'anti-balaka', but still controls the northeastern half of the landlocked country.

Former colonial power France, which deployed some 2,000 troops to CAR to stem Christian-Muslim violence, also rejected the agreement.

The French foreign ministry said the deal was an attempt to undermine a mediation process led by the transitional government that is expected to lead to a forum in Bangui in March.

"That initiative has France's backing," it said in a statement, adding that it was important to ensure the reconciliation process ended impunity and that all U.N. members should enforce sanctions adopted by the U.N. Security Council.

Despite the presence of the French forces and a U.N. peackeeping mission, the interim government has been unable to assert its authority ahead of elections due later this year.

French military spokesman Colonel Gilles Jaron said that, while the situation in CAR was generally stable, there were tensions in the east, due largely to a widening split between a faction of Seleka who wished to enter the peace process and those who preferred to continue fighting.

He said a majority of Seleka fighters would be represented at the upcoming talks in Bangui.

(Reporting by Crispin Dembassa-Kette; Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris; Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Daniel Flynn; Editing by Gareth Jones)