THE FRENCH cultural centre in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, was set ablaze yesterday. French soldiers fired into the air to protect their embassy as thousands of demonstrators shouting "Death to the French" marched to protest against an attack by French troops on army mutineers.
As France put an airlift in place to evacuate thousands of foreign nationals, a former member of the Central African Republic's government said the protesters tried to head towards the French embassy after setting fire to the cultural centre but were repulsed by French soldiers guarding the building.
Earlier thousands of demonstrators, shouting "Death to the French", marched through the centre of Bangui to protest at an attack by French troops on mutineers who tried to take over the state radio station in the city on Wednesday, two French gendarmes who witnessed the scene said.
According to the witnesses, the protesters shouted: "They have killed our children," and added that the crowd was "very hostile to whites".
They said rebels carrying guns were among the demonstrators. Hospital sources said that IS people were killed and 60 wounded between Saturday, when the uprising began, and Tuesday.
Meanwhile a member of the staff of President Ange Felix Patasse, contacted by telephone from Paris, said the government had banned gatherings of more than five people and all movements of people into and out of the capital.
A spokesman for the rebels. Sgt Cyriac Souke, said that two of the mutineers were killed in the clashes. Sgt Souke said: "The civilian population of Bangui is demonstrating against French interference and against President Patasse."
The witnesses said the demonstrators denounced President Patasse for requesting French intervention.
Meanwhile a French diplomatic source in Bangui said 1,000 people would be evacuated during the day.
Two flights for Paris were planned from Bangui while military transport planes were to shuttle foreign nationals to Libreville, Gabon, where two Air France flights for Paris were scheduled for the evening, the source said.
In Paris, the French Foreign Ministry said 1,400 French and foreign nationals would have been evacuated by this morning. The defence ministry said there were 4,281 non African foreigners in the city, 2,278 of them French.
Two evacuation flights to Paris for a total of more than 350 people have already taken place. The US has evacuated 55 of its nationals to Cameroon.
A French Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mr Yves Doutriaux, said France had intervened "at the request of the Central African authorities" who were "legitimate and democratically elected".