A spokesman for the insurgents was quoted as saying that supporters of Francois Bozize are now in charge and that the military should return to their barracks.

The power takeover is a "fait accompli," he said.

Fighting erupted in Bangui at about 3:15 p.m. (1315 GMT) Saturday when the insurgents entered the capital from the north.

The attack came while President Ange-Felix Patasse was in Niger for a meeting of African heads of state.

His plane was shot at when it tried to land at Bangui's airport Saturday, the reports said, adding it then diverted to neighboring Cameroon, where the president has taken refuge in a hotel in the capital Yaounde.

The streets of Bangui were relatively calm early Sunday, though sporadic gunfire could still be heard following a night of looting of buildings belonging to government officials, according to the reports.

The Central African Republic, boasting rich minerals including gold, diamond and uranium, has been plagued by coups and frequent changes of government since independence from France in 1960.

Saturday's coup attempt was the second in five months. Patasse survived a coup bid by Bozize's forces in October last year when he was supported by Libyan troops and fighters sent by a rebel leader in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo.

(Xinhua News Agency March 17, 2003)