The Central African Republic's president appeal for help in pushing back a rebel offensive has been rejected by France who have said that their troops can only protect French nationals.

President Francois Bozize made the appeal to France and the USA as rebel fighters close in just 75km away from the capital city. Bozize said,

"We are asking our cousins the French and the United States, which are major powers, to help us push back the rebels to their initial positions in a way that will permit talks in Libreville to resolve this crisis,"

However French President Francois Hollande responded said the 250 French troops on a peace keeping mission in the country, would not be used for anything other than protecting French nationals, commenting,

"If we have a presence, it's not to protect a regime, it's to protect our nationals and our interests and in no way to intervene in the internal business of a country, in this case the Central African Republic,"

"Those days are over."

The USA announced a suspension of diplomatic operations in the country as well as the departure of embassy personnel.

State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement:

"This decision is solely due to concerns about the security of our personnel and has no relation to our continuing and long-standing diplomatic relations with the CAR."

See here for full report on Reuters.