Why I eats human flesh – Cannibal justifies action

A man who ate another man’s flesh in the Central African Republic has told the BBC he was seeking “revenge” for the murder of family members.

Ouandja Magloire, who calls himself “Mad Dog”, was in a Christian mob who attacked a Muslim in the capital.

He said he had been “angry” because Muslims killed his pregnant wife, his-sister-in law and her baby.

Sectarian violence has been on the rise since rebels installed the country’s first Muslim leader in March 2013.

Michel Djotodia stepped down as president on Friday after intense regional pressure.

About 20% of the country’s 4.6 million people are said to have fled their homes, leading to warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe.

However, correspondents say fighting appears to have eased in the capital, Bangui, after rival militiamen laid down their arms in a truce brokered by the French military.

“Mad Dog” told the BBC’s Paul Wood he had seen his victim sitting on a minibus and decided to follow him.

More and more people joined him until he was at the head of a mob of some 20 youths, he said.

They forced the bus driver to stop and dragged the Muslim man out on the street, where he was beaten and stabbed before being set on fire.

Footage of the incident shows “Mad Dog” eating the man’s leg, our correspondent says.

According to eyewitnesses, no one tried to intervene.

Acts of cannibalism are rare in CAR, where sectarianism is a recent development, our correspondent says.

Mr Djotodia’s Seleka rebels have been accused of targeting Christian civilians, leading to the creation of self-defence groups known as anti-balaka.

Those groups have in turn been accused of atrocities against members of the Muslim minority.

After Mr Djotodia’s resignation, the transitional nation council has two weeks to choose a new president.

Hundreds of Christians soldiers who joined anti-balaka groups or deserted after the rebel takeover on Monday turned up for duty following an appeal from the chief of staff, reports the AFP news agency.

CAR has huge deposits of gold, diamonds and other minerals but has seen a succession of coups and rebellions since independence from France in 1960, leaving most of its people living in poverty.