The International Criminal Court is to investigate war crimes allegedly committed in Central African Republic (CAR) between 2002 and 2003. The Hague court's prosecutor said his investigations would mainly focus on the large number of alleged rapes.

The period covers the aftermath of a failed coup by current President Francois Bozize against the government of former leader, Ange-Felix Patasse. CAR's Supreme Court had referred the matter to the ICC in 2004.

The ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, said: "The information we have now suggests that the rape of civilians was committed in numbers that cannot be ignored under international law." His office has taken testimonies from hundreds of alleged rape victims, some of whom said they were assaulted in public or in the presence of family members.

Last year, the Central African Republic referred Mr. Patasse and the Vice-President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jean-Pierre Bemba, to the ICC on charges of rape and murder. A French policeman and two aides of Mr. Patasse were also referred. None has been arrested. The alleged crimes took place after Mr. Bozize instigated a coup in October 2002. The Congolese Liberation Movement under Mr Bemba, came to help Mr. Patasse. Mr. Bozize finally came to power in the landlocked country of 3.9 million people in 2003.