3rd September, 2012
Chad’s FPR rebel chief Abdel Kader Baba Ladde has surrendered to the Central African army and arrived in the capital Bangui on Monday, a military official said.
Baba Ladde, leader of the Popular Front for Recovery (FPR), was seen in the central eastern Ippy region where steps were taken by the United Nations and other groups to have him turn himself in, the official, a member of the country’s military high command, said.
“On Sunday he was taken by the central African multinational force FOMAC from Ippy to Bambari in the south, and handed over to Central African armed forces,” the source added.
Baba Ladde claims to fight for the Fula, a tribe whose people are spread over many African countries, from Senegal or Nigeria in the west to Sudan in the east.
FPR fighters fleeing Chad military offensives entered the Central African Republic in 2008, setting up in the Kaga Bandoro region where they were accused of robbery.
Baba Ladde “was transferred to Bangui in a plane chartered by the authorities along with his son” on Monday afternoon, the official said.
The official said that more than 100 rebels were still in the Ippy region waiting to be decommissioned.
In August last year, Central African mediator Paulin Pomodimo said he had persuaded Baba Ladde to return to Ndjamena but the former general refused to enter negotiations with Chadian officials without a UN presence.
Joint Chadian and Central African troops attacked FPR bases in the northern Kaga Bandoro region in January and Baba Ladde was then said to have fled to Sudan.
And in February the Chadian rebels robbed about 40 people including a local government official of their belongings in attacks in the Central African Republic.