A grouping of former Seleka rebels in Central African Republic said on Sunday it had expelled from its ranks several members serving in a new government seeking to stop a cycle of deadly clashes between Muslims and Christians. "The ex-Seleka coalition neither supported nor put forward the names of the prime minister or ministers," the group's vice-president Nouredine Adam wrote in a statement. The former French colony has been gripped by violence since Michel Djotodia led Seleka, a coalition of mostly Muslim rebels and some fighters from neighboring Chad and Sudan, in an assault on the capital Bangui and seized power in March 2013.