Crisis-hit Central African Republic elects first female interim president

Catherine Samba-Panza was elected the first female interim president of the Central African Republic on Monday.

Samba-Panza, who served as the capital Bangui's mayor, defeated rival Desire Kolingba in the interim parliament's second round of voting by a margin of 75 votes to 53 votes.

Michel Djotodia, the country's previous president, left office on Jan. 10, amid regional and international political pressure over his inability to halt sectarian bloodshed in the country.

"Show your support for my nomination by giving the strong signal of laying down your weapons," said Samba-Panza, addressing the Christian self-defense militia called "anti-balaka" (anti-machete).

She also appealed to the mostly Muslim rebels, known as Seleka, saying, "Stop the suffering of the people."

Sectarian violence between CAR's Christian majority and Muslim minority has led the European Union to consider sending somewhere between 400 and 1,000 troops to assist the French and African Union troops already active in the impoverished country.

"We face a political and humanitarian emergency in the Central African Republic," said Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. "We clearly need to do something."

In a joint statement the EU's foreign ministers said: "Within its zone of operations [in and around Bangui], the military force will contribute to the regional and international efforts to protect the most endangered people and increase the civilians' freedom of movement."

Since March, the former French colony has seen retaliatory attacks between the Seleka rebels and the Christian militia. About 1,000 people were killed in December, according to the BBC. 

The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement over the weekend that people have fled their homes in the western and northern parts of CAR.

"Much of the population, in danger of reprisals and with no-one to protect them, have fled their homes and are hiding in the bush. The ICRC is extremely concerned about their welfare," the statement said.

"In the past 48 hours, Red Cross staff and volunteers have buried some 50 bodies discovered in the area around Bossembélé, Boyali and Boali, in the north-west of the country," the ICRC added.

International donors will provide CAR with $500 million in aid in 2014 to help assist with the humanitarian effort, according to an EU official.

Donor nations "are fully mobilizing to attempt to put an end to a crisis… which has been ignored for so long," said EU International Aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva.

Valerie Amos, the UN's humanitarian chief, said: "We have a 100-day plan which is now fully funded, and now additional resources which will go toward the plan for the rest of the year. We need to work on all of them in parallel."