The Imam, the Archbishop and the Killers Our World

BBC's Tim Whewell joined them on one of their trips to promote peace. You

may find some of the events described in this programme

upsetting. It is a country locked into a cycle of revenge. The scene

of mass ethnic and religious cleansing. Where only killers are in

charge. TRANSLATION: In the Central African Republic, thousands have

seen their relatives slaughtered in front of them. While the world takes

little notice, but two brave men from opposite sides of the divide

our best friends. They are off on a journey to dam the flood of hate.

They are taught it is a war of religion, but we reject that. And I

am going with them. In the Central African Republic

today, it is not safe to be Muslim. Here, in this remote town in the

west of the country, thousands of desperate people have been camped

out for weeks at a small and muddy compound. They have lost their

homes, and almost all of their possessions. Many have lost family

and friends, murdered in cold blood, by a savage militia. All because of

their faith. This man, now an orphan, watched the killers go from

door to door, hunting for Muslims like him.

Some have walked and run here for day after day through the forest

from other towns and villages, pursued like animals by the militia.

Now they want to leave this predominantly Christian country

where they will largely accepted until a few months ago. `` where

they were largely accepted. They will follow other Muslims who have

already fled to neighbouring refugee camps in neighbouring states. This

is a tragedy the outside world is barely aware of, ethnic and

religious cleansing on a massive scale. These are the only remaining

the Slims for hundreds of kilometres around. These gates and troops are

all that is protecting them from likely death. `` Muslims. There are

not enough foreign peacekeepers to make much of a difference. The

Muslims main protector is the Catholic Church. It owns the

compound. Kristian is sheltering Muslims may seem surprisingly in the

midst of what looks at first sight like a religious conflict. ``

Christians. In the capital, the country 's Archbishop remembers

how, until recently, the two faiths mixed and intermarriage.

TRANSLATION: When I was a child I went to school with Muslims, we

played together, run around together, and we would give each

other presents. Meanwhile, across the country, there are also tens of

thousands of questions who fled attacks by Muslims. The Archbishop

believes that the two communities can be reunited. So does the country

's chief Imam. Despite the conflict, he is one of the Archbishop 's

closest friends. TRANSLATION: He is a simple man, calm, profound, that

is his strength. We complement one another. Some call us the

inseparable is, and others, the twins. The imams own story mirrors

the countries tragedy. He is forced to live for his own safety as a

guest of the Archbishop. He fled for his life from his own house, now

looted and destroyed in the anti` Muslim violence, and yet himself, he

is from it questions and in. `` a Christian family. I converted to

Islam, I have Christian parents and Muslim relatives. Today there are no

tribes in the Central African Republic who do not have at least

one Muslim. Over the last year they have travelled ceaselessly

together, using their friendship to show that this is not a religious

conflict. Today, they are heading off on another journey far into the

interior of the country, two regions still being cleansed of Muslims, to

try to stop the genocide. It will be dangerous. We have a military escort

to protect us. They have also got their faith. It is a difficult task,

but nothing is impossible for God. We are men of God and we trust in

him. That is why we are going to meet our brothers and sisters and

tried to fight this. `` try. It will not be easy. The Central

African Republic is one of the world 's poorest countries. Its French

colonisers left some with a taste for Gatto, but there is little

infrastructure here. Now, no real authority at all. Only the French

African peacekeepers when a coup last year unleashed unprecedented

violence, involving both Muslims, 15% of the population, and

Christians, the overwhelming majority. Over the last two months,

two murderous militias have rampaged down this road. Burning, looting,

killing, often at random. First, the mainly Muslim Seliger, and then the

mainly Christian group, their crimes are now destroying this country. The

rebels are now defeated and confined to barracks in the capital. They are

still fighting elsewhere. A year ago, they formed the country 's

first Muslim left government `` led. To the marmot rose sorrow, some

of them took part in the atrocities. TRANSLATION: 's a mercenary, not in

his home ground, only gets riches to steal. He cannot go home without

loot. `` Imam's. In this way, the mercenaries led an example which the

local Muslims followed. These are some of the young men who have sent

them packing. Today, of course, they are fooling around with one

another. But, they have killed plenty of Muslims are real.

Although, they call it offends against foreigners. `` defence.

They are armed, not only with the weapons that you see, but with guns

they are hiding. These charms, they believe, protect them from the

Seleka. Today, the effect of fear and cannabis is adding to the

swagger. Beneath the hard faces, they have suffered as well.

You can tell the anti`balaka have been here. This is the third village

we have passed on a fairly short stretch of road which has been

almost completely burned. The countryside around here, for miles

and miles, has been completely emptied of Muslims. TRANSLATION:

Whenever we seem Muslims, they become like savage walls. But, they

are walls goaded on by some of the country 's former question leaders.

TRANSLATION: The people in power organised a campaign against

Muslims. They spoke to the majority and said, look, they are enemies.

Our enemies on the Slims. `` are Muslims. Those politicians are using

3`2 try to regain power. `` anti`balaka in order to regain

power. They gave them money, and told them to go for it. It is a war

for religion. They need to change that. To stop the killing, you have

to talk to the killers. Bravely, Imam is buttonholing a group of

anti`balaka fighters by the side of the road. There is protection

nearby. It is still a tense moment. They hate the Slims. `` Muslims. The

Imam wants the young man to leave the militia. But, he will not. He

does not want to lose the income from this home`made checkpoint that

he and his friends put up, where all travellers are forced to pay.

That is not what the Archbishop wanted to hear. They have left what

they should be doing. Farming, hunting, fishing, just to stand by

the road and extort money from people. We have to stop that. For

now there is an icky wherever we go. At our next stop, thousands of

Christians are sheltering around the cathedral. They have been here for

months, since they fled the Seleka forces. The Imam and the Archbishop

want them to go home, for normal life to resume. But that is

impossible according to Pauline Kosem. Her life changed a few months

ago for ever. She sent her son on an errand, and he never returned.

That random killing left four children fatherless. The Archbishop

loses her, she can't go home. `` blesses. She takes us to see why.

The Seleka burnt it, and left nothing. It is the first time she

has been back. Behind, what is left of her son 's house.

It is too much for her grandson, Frankland. `` Franklin.

In fact, he tells us later, he is going back to the anti`Balaka

tomorrow to join other young Christian men from here. No wonder

the Archbishop and the Imam, meeting the few remaining Muslims, are

finding it hard to persuade them to stay. The Archbishop says that if

they flee to Chad, as many already have, there will be no chance of

rebuilding a mixed society. They do not trust him.

It's another setback on the road towards reconciliation. TRANSLATION:

We went to the Muslim community. It is as though we are being rejected.

As though they were shutting themselves up. They are in the

mindset where all they wanted to do was leave the country and no longer

consider themselves central Africans. Back on the road, another

long, rutted road, he regains his spirits. So does the Imam, and the

leader of the country's Protestants, who has joined us. This

car is a bubble of harmony, travelling through a landscape of

hate. The example that these men set is remarkable. But even so, I am not

sure how far people are convinced by their message. Does the Imam ever

worry he will be the last Imam, perhaps the last Muslim, in this

country? TRANSLATION: I don't think I would be the last Imam in Central

African Republic. There are plenty of other Imams in the country. As

proof, they tell me about a village of Muslim herders, who are protected

I there Christian neighbours. They have been gradually spreading here

for generations from the edge of the Sahara. This is one of the few

places around here where the Koran is still being taught. But it turns

out they now live in constant fear. Not so much protected, as held

prisoner. Further on, we find cattle that used

to belong to the pearl. These are their owners now. Anti`Balaka

fighters. They have taken Muslim women as well.

`` Peul. Meanwhile, the Archbishop and are Imam have moved on to the

next town. Bozoum. As ever, they are locked in a meeting, talking and

listening. But this is not a place sympathetic to Muslims. TRANSLATION:

The consequences will be economic. A price of food will shoot up, that is

because the majority of Muslims are either shopkeepers or cattle

herders. There is already problems here. With meat, there is very

little of it available. He is right. At the market, you are plenty of

vegetables, grown by Christian farmers. `` there are plenty of

vegetables, grown by Christian farmers. But the meat section is

almost there. `` bare. This man is one of only two Muslim men left in

Bozoum, where there were once thousands. He is allowed to stay

because few others have his skill. Outside his home, anti`Balaka

fighters watch his every move. He is too scared to talk openly about what

has happened here. But he can't hide his misery.

His wife will never forget the day when all the other Muslims left,

following the retreating Seleka forces out of the country.

The Archbishop and the Imam have reached the end of their journey.

Their pleas for reconciliation have fallen hardly the Mac largely on

stony ground, but they are not giving up. TRANSLATION: It is the

old story of the man who said to his fiancee, I come to you and you

refuse me, so I will keep coming back until you declare your love for

me. TRANSLATION: The country is in great danger. We have to try and use

all means possible to avoid the country ending up in war which is

tribal, religious, ethnic, and regional. They are heading back to

the capital and then abroad, to urge western leaders to send more

peacekeepers before it is too late. But perhaps it already is. The

thousand Muslims who were sheltering around this church are now gone.

They have evacuated to neighbouring Canberra. In the western half of the

country, there is hardly anyone left to save anything. `` Cameroon. Back

in Bangui, I find the tail end of the Exodus. Some of the capital's

last Muslims leaving the country in any vehicle they can find. Ethnic

cleansing is almost complete. And still the world looks the other way.

Hello there. A lot of sporting action happening this weekend. It is