<div><p>Authorities in the Central African Republic on Thursday denied allegations they had arrested, tortured and killed the leader of the country's only rebel group still fighting.</p><p>Charles Massi, 57, a former minister who heads the rebel Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace (CPJP), was killed on January 8, his wife and party have alleged.</p><p>But Defence Minister Jean-Francis Bozize dismissed the reports as "lies."</p><p>"The defence ministry wishes to issue a formal denial," he said in a statement, insisting the government has "no knowledge" of his whereabouts.</p><p>Massi was minister under Ange-Felix Patasse, the president toppled in a bloodless coup by current president Francois Bozize in 2003. He also served as a minister in Bozize's administration.</p><p>In May 2009 Massi was arrested in southern Chad and imprisoned for "fraudulent entry" and "attempted destabilisation of a neighbouring country", Chad's Interior Minister Ahmat Mahamat Bachir told AFP at the time, and was reportedly later released.</p><p>CPJP fighters clashed with the Central African Republic army several times in 2009 in the northwestern Ndele region.</p><p>The fighting has led to population displacement and the creation of a refugee camp for about 6,000 people at Daha on Chad's side of the border.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=67466237&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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