YAOUNDE, Sept. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- President of the Central African Republic (CAR) Francois Bozize signed a presidential decree on Thursday to dissolve the government of Prime Minister Celestin Gaombalet but did not specify the reasons, according to state radio reports in the CAR capital Bangui monitored here.

    The brief decree did not mention who would replace Gaombalet.

    The former banker was appointed prime minister by Bozize on Dec.12, 2003, with the mission of ensuring the country's transition to reconciliation and democracy after a coup in March 2003.

    Gaombalet's government was the second transitional government set up under Bozize after Gaombalet's predecessor was dismissed.

    Political analysts here believe that Bozize intended to put hisfavorites into the next cabinet in preparation for presidential elections due early 2005.

    However, some reports say the dispute between Bozize and the finance and economy minister was one of the major reasons for the dissolution.

    The electoral commission in the CAR had announced that presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in January and February next year respectively and the transitional period ofmore than one year would be finished by then.

    Bozize seized power in the poverty-stricken, landlocked countryin a coup on March 15, 2003, that ousted Ange-Felix Patasse, who had held the presidency for 10 years.

    The official aim of the transitional phase is to revive the ailing state and reconcile differing factions in the country.

    The CAR, a country of about 3.6 million people and rich in gold,diamonds and uranium, has been plagued by military revolts and other uprisings since gaining independence from France in 1960. Enditem