Central African Republic's National Council of Transition on Saturday designated the Seleka rebel coalition leader, Michel Djotodia, interim president to head an 18-month transitional period, a source of the council told Xinhua on telephone.
Seleka seized power on March 24, toppling President Francois Bozize, who has been in exile abroad ever since. The takeover is seen as a coup by African countries.
Djotodia was named interim president at the first meeting of the National Council of Transition, which was established on Thursday to replace the Superior Council of Transition created on April 6.
Compared with the 97-member Superior Council, the new council comprises 105 personnel, the same as the dissolved National Assembly (parliament).
The 18-month transition was unveiled in conformity with the calendar fixed at the April 3 summit of the Central African bloc CEEAC held in the Chadian capital N'Djamena.
The summit refused to recognize the legitimacy of Djotodia's rule, recommending a transitional period of 18 months.
Both Djotodia and the National Council of Transition support the government headed by Nicolas Tiangaye, who was named prime minister under a peace deal struck on Jan. 11 between Bozize and Seleka in the Gabonese capital Libreville.
Seleka, a loose rebel coalition of five factions, launched an insurgency in December 2012, accusing the government of failing to implement a series of peace accords signed in Libreville over the past five years.
Seleka resumed fighting in March after giving the government a deadline to honor the Jan. 11 Libreville agreement to release political prisoners, integrate rebels into the national army and pull out South African and Ugandan troops deployed in the country to protect the Bangui-based government.
Central African Republic, a country of 5 million population, has been haunted by instability and poverty since its independence from France in 1960. It is listed by the United Nations as one of the poorest in the world despite its rich resources.
