Former Central African Republic President François Bozizé has gone into exile in Guinea-Bissau, President Umaro Sissoco Embaló has confirmed.
Bozizé, 76, landed in the host capital Bissau on Thursday aboard a special flight from Chad, where he had been hiding since 2021.
The former coup and rebel leader was received by President Embaló who ushered him into a house paid for by the Bissau government.
“Today,I received the former President of the CAR François Bozize for humanitarian reasons at the request of the Economic Community of Central African States”, President Embaló wrote on his Facebook page.
The Guinea Bissau leader is the chairperson of Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).
Bozizé ruled CAR from 2003, after he overthrew Ange Felix Patassé in a coup, until he was also kicked out in yet another coup in 2013.
Since then CAR has been mired in crises and coup attempts, with Bozizé suspected of being one of the main instigators.