(Recasts, updates with quotes, details) By Jean-Magloire Issa BANGUI, April 13 (Reuters) - Central African Republic's government and northeastern rebels signed a peace accord on Friday that established a ceasefire and an amnesty for the insurgents, officials said. President Francois Bozize flew to Birao, more than 800 km (500 miles) northeast of the capital Bangui, to sign the peace deal with the rebel Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR). Since late last year, the group's fighters have attacked towns and villages in the remote, inaccessible region and have fought French-backed government troops in several battles. Relief workers say violence by rebels, government troops and bandits has driven 300,000 civilians from their homes across the north of Central African Republic, creating a "forgotten" humanitarian crisis in one of the world's poorest countries. General Lamine Cisse, the U.N. Special Representative to the Central African Republic, witnessed Friday's signing ceremony. "This brings peace closer," he told Reuters by telephone. The UFDR military commander General Damane Zakaria signed the accord for the rebels. It foresees an immediate ceasefire and the reintegration of UFDR fighters into the national army. "We're going to lay down our arms and take part in a national dialogue," UFDR spokesman Abdallah Youssouf said. The agreement, similar to a peace deal signed by Bozize in February in Libya with two other rebel leaders, also grants an amnesty to rebel fighters. It is expected to lead to the release of two UFDR leaders, the group's president Michel Djotodia and spokesman Capt. Abakar Sabone, who have been held since November by authorities in Benin, from where they had been issuing political statements. FRENCH MILITARY SUPPORT The UFDR rebels, who occupied the town of Birao for several weeks last year, carried out more attacks last month in and around the town, which is located in a rugged area bordering the southern end of Sudan's violence-torn Darfur region. Last month, almost all of the 14,000 population of Birao fled into the bush to avoid rebels attacks, U.N. officials said. Humanitarian agencies hope the ceasefire will restore security to the region and allow them to provide food, medical attention and other basic services to the displaced people. Bozize, who seized power in a 2003 coup and then won an election in 2005, has been to trying to make peace deals with several rebel groups that have been raiding across the north of the country, driving thousands of civilians into the bush. Under a bilateral defence accord, former colonial power France sent special forces backed by helicopters and fighter jets to Birao late last year to help government troops dislodge the UFDR rebels. The French forces have since then clashed again with the rebels in and around the town. The northeast Vakaga prefecture where Birao is situated has a porous frontier with Sudan's Darfur region, where political and ethnic conflict has raged since 2003. (Additional reporting by Pascal Fletcher in Dakar)
