Two military uprisings within a month have thoroughly destabilised the government of President Ange-Félix Patassé. On 18 May the leaders of the April mutiny, headed by Adjutant (Sergeant Major) Isidore Mathurin Dokodo, took over the capital for four days. They did not trust Patassé to implement the amnesty he had promised; they feared he would arrest their leaders and disband their regiments, relying on the Presidential Guard. This French-trained force, independent of the Ministry of Defence, is recruited from Patassé' s own region, Ouhampende, and commanded by his uncle, General François Djader Bedaya.
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