Central African Republic Revolts

Fresh clashes in the capital, Bangui, between African peacekeepers and disaffected soldiers killed at least 10 civilians and wounded dozens, including French nationals hurt when a stray mortar shell hit their embassy compound, witnesses said. The deaths brought to at least 14 the number of people killed in two days of fighting. The African force, deployed under a Jan.

African peacekeepers shelled parts of the capital, Bangui, where mutinous soldiers were holed up after days of clashes, forcing thousands of people to flee, witnesses said. The mutineers have yet to rejoin their units under a January peace deal to end political and ethnic clashes between supporters and opponents of President Ange-Felix Patasse in the army.

French troops stormed a rebel base and seized control of a corner of Bangui, the capital, that had been held for six weeks by mutineers. At least 30 rebel soldiers were taken prisoner, and witnesses reported seeing the Red Cross removing dozens of bodies on stretchers. The French Defense Ministry said 10 rebels were killed. Authorities said government soldiers--backed by 1,300 French troops--were in control. But witnesses reported seeing rebels regrouping.

At least two French soldiers were killed as French troops clashed with army mutineers who tried to approach the presidential palace in the capital, Bangui. The mutiny that began Nov. 15 has led to a standoff between mutineers, who occupy a small corner of Bangui, and government soldiers backed by French troops. The mutineers demand President Ange-Felix Patasse's resignation, accusing him of ignoring their demands for wage increases.

Rebels shot and wounded two French soldiers who were evacuating French citizens from their homes, as a bloody army mutiny escalated in the wake of failed truce negotiations. France sent more troops into the capital, Bangui, where at least seven people have died since Saturday, when the army launched its second uprising in two months.

Begging Central Africans to have confidence in his leadership, President Ange Patasse appealed to mutinous soldiers Sunday to return to their barracks. Patasse's radio address to the nation came as the troops' week-old mutiny appeared in disarray. Rebel leader Sgt. Cyriaque Souke alternated between denouncing Patasse and predicting that his followers would soon return to their barracks.

For the second time in less than six weeks Tuesday, the U.S. military was called in to help frightened foreigners escape a strife-torn African country as Marines began an evacuation airlift from the increasingly chaotic Central African Republic. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said 13 Americans, accompanied by other escaping foreigners, were on the first helicopter flight out. He said the U.S.

French troops trucked mutinous soldiers back to barracks Monday, underlining the former colonial power's decisive role in ending the country's latest military uprising. Most of the renegade Central Africans ended their mutiny quietly Monday. A few seemed reluctant at first to leave downtown streets and even fired their weapons into the air, but when confronted by French troops they meekly filed into trucks to be driven back to their barracks.

About 60 Americans were flown from the Central African Republic's violence-torn capital, Bangui, on Wednesday, and the United States said most remaining Americans in the country will probably be evacuated. The Americans were transported to Cameroon. The State Department also thanked French troops for rescuing 10 American Peace Corps volunteers caught in cross-fire in Bangui.

Renegade soldiers on Saturday terrorized a city strewn with corpses from a week-old mutiny, but the mayhem appeared to be losing strength as soldiers dropped their demand for the president's resignation. Opposition parties were weighing an invitation to join the government but indicated that they would accept only if President Ange Patasse agreed to hold elections in six months.