President, Prime Minister of Central African Republic resign

Country has been engulfed in months of violence

The Central African Republic’s Interim President, Michel Djotodia, and his Prime Minister, Nicolas Tiangaye, have resigned, according to a statement issued after a two-day summit in neighbouring Chad.

The regional leaders had put pressure on Mr. Djotodia to step down after he failed to halt months of inter-religious violence that had forced one million people to flee from their homes.

As news from the summit reached the capital, residents, who had been calling for Mr. Djotodia to step down, began celebrating with some sporadic gunfire.

The Central African regional body, Economic Community of Central African States, CEEAC, had started discussion to decide a new leadership to take place in Bangui, at a later date.

Mr. Djotodia was swept to power in 2013, when a loose rebel alliance, known as Seleka, seized the capital.

However, months of abuses by his mainly Muslim rebels led to the creation of Christian defense militia and cycles of killings of hundreds of people.

France rushed hundreds of troops to support African peacekeepers struggling to keep the peace in the former French colony late 2013.

(Reuters/NAN)