Republic of Dahomey Republic of Dahomey The Republic of Dahomey ( ) was established on December 11, 1958, as a self-governing colony within the French Community. Prior to attaining autonomy it had been French Dahomey, part of the French Union. On August 1, 1960, it attained full independence from France. In 1975, the country was renamed Benin after the Bight of Benin (which was in turn named after the Benin Empire which had its seat of power in Benin City, modern-day Nigeria), since "Benin" was deemed politically neutral for all ethnic groups in the state, whereas "Dahomey" recalled the Fon-dominated Kingdom of Dahomey.
Central African Republic Civil War (2012–present) The Séléka representative was General Mohamed Moussa Dhaffane, and the anti-balaka representative was Patrick Edouard Ngaissona. The talks were mediated by Congolese president Denis Sassou Nguesso. The Séléka delegation had pushed for a formalization of the partition of the Central African Republic with Muslims in the north and Christians in the south but dropped that demand in talks. Many factions on the ground claimed the talks were not representative and fighting continued with Séléka's military leader Joseph Zindeko rejected the ceasefire agreement the next day saying it lacked input from his military wing and brought back the demand for partition.