UN warns of humanitarian disaster in Central African Republic
Baku, January 9 (AZERTAC). The UN has warned that the Central African Republic is heading toward a humanitarian disaster, as people fleeing conflict pack into overcrowded camps with poor sanitation.
It says measles has broken out at the airport in the capital, Bangui, where about 100,000 people are seeking refuge from clashes between rival militias.
Separately, reports that the president is to step down have been denied.
Officials say that Michel Djotodia's resignation is not on the agenda.
President Djotodia's spokesman told the BBC that the president was on his way to neighboring Chad to "attend a regional summit, but not to resign".
But the president's failure to quell violence between Christian and Muslim militias has prompted speculation that he may indeed step down at the summit.
"It's finished for him now," a source close to Mr. Djotodia was quoted as telling Reuters.
A senior diplomatic source in Paris and political sources in Bangui told Reuters that regional leaders led by Chad had run out of patience with President Djotodia, who seized power in March as the head of Muslim Seleka rebels.
The stark evidence of the Central African Republic's deepening crisis greets you as soon as you land.
As many as 100,000 people are camped out by the airport, rows of plastic sheets and makeshift shelters pressed right up against the runway.
A month ago, only a few thousand people were here - but then violence in the capital, Bangui, escalated.
Almost half of the city has now fled. There was firing into the airport camp itself last week. Three children died and aid agencies briefly curtailed their operations.
Things seem much calmer now, both in the camp and in the capital Bangui.
The violence appears to be, increasingly, neighbor against neighbor. That may be the kind of killing not even the resignation of a president (if true) can stop.
About half the people of Bangui have been driven from their homes, a total of about 513,000, it said.
Mr. Djotodia forced President Francois Bozize, who comes from the majority Christian population, to flee into exile.
The clashes have killed more than 1,000 people since December and the UN says 935,000 have been driven from their homes nationwide.
Some 2.2 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.
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