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Clashes in CAR Capital Leave at Least 30 Dead

Agence France-Presse

   BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - At least 30 people were killed in
   fighting between militiamen and traders in a restive district of
   Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, a security
   official and a local imam said Thursday.

   "Thirty bodies have been brought to the mosque," said Awad Al Karim,
   the imam of the Ali Babolo mosque in a district called PK5 that became
   a haven for many Bangui Muslims at the peak of Christian-Muslim clashes
   in the country.

   A security official, who asked to remain anonymous, also put the number
   of dead at at least 30, without providing any further details.

   The fighting began after traders in the district took up arms to oppose
   taxes levied by militia groups, the imam said.

   Bursts of automatic fire and explosions were heard Wednesday evening
   and Thursday morning, according to an AFP journalist who was in a
   neighboring district.

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