Central African premier holds talks at Russian Defence Ministry

(Reuters) – Central African Republic (CAR) Prime Minister Felix Moloua held talks in Moscow on Thursday with the leadership of Russia’s Defence Ministry, Russian news agencies reported.

The two sides discussed regional security issues and “noted the importance of Russian-Central African ties in the defence sphere”, Interfax news agency quoted the ministry as saying.

Russia has been jockeying with France in recent years for influence in Francophone Africa, not least in the CAR, a gold- and diamond-rich country of 4.7 million people.

Since 2018 the CAR government, which is fighting several rebel insurgencies, has been assisted by hundreds of Russian operatives including many from the private military contractor Wagner Group, prominent in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A month ago, Dmitry Syty, head of the “Russian House” representative office, was seriously injured in the CAR capital Bangui when he opened a mail bomb.

France, the former colonial ruler, dismissed allegations by Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin that it was responsible.

(Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Mark Heinrich)