CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC- Following the resignation of Michel Djotondia as the interim president of the Central African Republic, the mayor of Bangui, Catherine Samba-Panza, 59, has been elected interim president of the country making her the first woman to hold the post.

She beat her rival Desire Kolingba in the second round of voting by the interim parliament.

In her victory speech, Ms Samba-Panza urged Christian militias, known as anti-balaka, and Muslim fighters in the ex-Seleka rebel movement to end the bloodshed.

"I call on my children, especially the anti-balaka, to put down their arms and stop all the fighting. The same goes for the ex-Seleka - they should not have fear. I don't want to hear any more talk of murders and killings,'' she said, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Cheers broke out in the National Transitional Council, which serves as an interim parliament, when Ms Samba-Panza's victory was announced.

Violence has continued, with two Muslim men killed and burnt in the capital Bangui on Sunday.

Nearly a million people have been forced from their homes - 20% of the population - by the conflict between Muslims and Christians.