Paris: French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Friday called for the swift replacement of Michel Djotodia, the rebel-turned-president of the violence-stricken Central African Republic who has resigned.
Le Drian urged transition authorities in the country, which plunged into chaos after Djotodia seized power in a coup last March, prompting a French military intervention, to "decide as soon as possible" on a replacement.
Djotodia had been under intense pressure from other African leaders to resign over his failure to stem deadly sectarian unrest pitting the mainly Muslim former rebels who brought him to power against Christian militias.
The violence has seen more than 1,000 people killed in the last month alone, and a military intervention by French and African forces launched in December has failed to settle the situation.
"The national transition council... must implement a provisional alternative because the aim is to hold elections before the end of the year," Le Drian said on a trip to Merignac in southwest France.
The Central African Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye has also resigned.
