By AFP

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The Central African Republic's main opposition parties said Thursday they were prepared to rejoin talks aimed at ending eight years of conflict if the government drops legal proceedings against three MPs.

The Coalition of the Democratic Opposition (COD-2020) withdrew from the dialogue two weeks ago, accusing President Faustin Archange Touadera of wanting to lift the lawmakers' immunity.

On Thursday, COD-2020 demanded the "pure and simple dropping" of legal pursuits against the three as the "only possible way to resolve the crisis". 

The MPs include Anicet Georges Dologuele, runner-up to Touadera in the December 2020 presidential election. 

They were informed at the start of the year that they were barred from leaving the country.

A member of the president's office said the lifting of immunity for the three was sought as part of investigations into Francois Bozize, the head of state from 2003 to 2013.

Touadera's government accuses Bozize of being behind a failed attempt to overthrow him in December 2020.

One of the world's poorest nations, the CAR has repeatedly been wracked by conflict since obtaining independence from France in 1960.

Civil war broke out in 2013 after a coup toppled Bozize, who had seized power a decade earlier.

While that conflict has dropped in intensity in the past three years, unrest remains rife.

Since 2007, there have been 13 peace accords and a welter of ceasefires but none has held in the long term.

In mid-October, Touadera issued a unilateral ceasefire declaration, vowing to pursue dialogue, and said all but two of the main armed rebel groups had agreed to put down their weapons.