The Central African Republic's president has offered to hold talks with Christian militia groups in efforts to end spiralling sectarian violence that has killed hundreds of people in a week.
Michel Djotodia, who became the majority Christian country's first Muslim leader in a March coup, told Radio France Internationale that he was ready to "extend his hand" and "talk" to militia groups.
The talks would address issues including an amnesty for the groups' role in the unrest and giving them posts in his transitional government.
"They are not enemies. They are our brothers," Djotodia said.
Violence between Christians and Muslims has been on the rise since the coup, but the latest carnage has seen several hundred people killed over the past week, prompting United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon and local authorities to plead for an end to the atrocities.
UN refugee agency UNHCR said more than 600 people were killed, including 450 in the capital, Bangui, and 160 in other parts of the country.
The number of dead and wounded across the country was not known, but the UN's human rights office said 27 Muslims had been killed by militia in one village.
In Bangui a mob hacked a Muslim motorcyclist to death near the airport Saturday morning, witnesses told AFP. Moments later residents brandished the man's cut-off hands, an AFP journalist saw.
Another man was wounded in the violence and sought refuge at a nearby French military base.
Muslim and Christian leaders have called for calm and launched joint operations, distributing food and holding inter-religious services.
The leader of the Islamic Committee of the Central African Republic, Imam Oumar Kobin Layama, speaking at a mosque near where the Muslim motorcyclist was lynched, condemned the murder.
"Innocent Muslims are paying the price," he said.
"We are calling for calm. The country must not go up in flames. We must not give back as we were given."
UN chief Ban urged religious and community leaders to act as messengers of peace to heal divisions in communities that had long lived together in peace.
"Do not allow the voices of hatred to sow division where none existed before," he said in a radio message late Friday.
"Whatever your faith or background, you share the same history and the same future," he said. "The bloodshed must stop," he added, warning that those committing atrocities would be "held to account".
