An orgy of bloodshed

The mob violence wracking Central African Republic imperils the future of the country's Muslims, with thousands having been slaughtered and many more fleeing the country.

Bangui, the capital, is engulfed in an orgy of bloodshed and looting despite the presence of thousands of French and African peacekeepers.

"We are in a moment where immediate action is needed to stop the killings," Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch told The Associated Press, calling for a full-fledged United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission. "Otherwise, the future of the Muslim community of this country will be gone."

Muslims make up about 15 per cent of Central African Republic's 4.6 million people. More than 800,000 people fled their homes.

"There are some who don't want Muslims in this country," Prime Minister Andre Nzapayeke said on local radio yesterday.

"But when the Muslims have left the country, what happens next? The Protestants will throw out the Catholics, and then the Baptists against the Evangelists, and finally the animists? It is time we regain control and stop ourselves from plunging into an abyss."

Thousands of Muslims left Bangui in a massive convoy last Friday that was jeered by crowds of Christians. One Muslim who fell off a truck was quickly killed by the mob. Muslim women who could not get on the trucks tried to hand their children to strangers aboard the vehicles. Whole neighbourhoods are abandoned and Muslims who cannot leave are hiding inside mosques that have not already been set ablaze or destroyed by angry crowds.

- AP