BANGUI, Central African Republic: The president of the Central African Republic on Wednesday accused Sudan of backing rebels who seized a northern town last month, charges Sudan has denied.
Speaking to a crowd of more than 30,000 demonstrators in the capital, President Francois Bozize said Sudanese President Omar al Bashir "is at the origin of the attacks our country has suffered."
Bozize's government says armed fighters based in Sudan's troubled Darfur region crossed the border and on Oct.
29 seized the northern town of Birao, located 800 kilometers (500 miles) northeast of Bangui, near the country's borders with Chad and Sudan. Rebels still control the town.
Unidentified armed groups have launched sporadic attacks on military installations in remote regions of the Central African Republic over the past year, displacing tens of thousands of residents.
The impoverished country has suffered from decades of army revolts, coups and rebellions since it gained independence from France in 1960.
Also Wednesday, Chad's government said ethnic violence in Sudan's Darfur was spilling across the border, sparking an upsurge of deadly Arab-African fighting among Chadians.
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