EU:The EU is considering sending 3,000 troops to Chad towards the end of the year, in what could become the first deployment of a battlegroup.
Irish troops may be called on take part in a mission designed to protect up to 230,000 refugees from the conflict in Darfur and 170,000 citizens of eastern Chad. It would support a UN mission to train and support the Chadian police forces.
The proposed EU mission is the brainchild of new French foreign minister Berhard Koucher, who has already offered 1,100 French troops. France has also contacted Sweden, which is the lead nation in the Nordic battlegroup, about contributing troops.
The mission would most likely deploy for six months to a year and be sanctioned by a UN Security Council resolution.
UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guehenno this week urged the EU to send troops swiftly to improve security for refugees and aid workers in Chad as part of efforts to contain violence spreading from the Darfur region of Sudan.
"There is a humanitarian urgency in Chad," said Mr Guehenno, who added that deteriorating security had complicated aid efforts in recent weeks in the African state.
About 90 Irish soldiers are members of the Nordic battlegroup, which also has a standing contingent of about 2,500 troops from Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Norway. They provide a specialised bomb squad unit that can make safe roadside bombs and mines.
An Irish spokesman said any request for troops would be considered.
EU foreign ministers will formally ask the EU's crisis management and military staff to plan a possible European Security and Defence Policy mission at a meeting on Monday. The mission is intended to support a UN presence in eastern Chad and the Central African Republic, where Arab militia are threatening refugees from Darfur.
A Swedish spokesman said that it had not committed itself or the Nordic battlegroup troops from taking part in the proposed mission but he did not rule out a role in Chad.
But EU diplomats said privately yesterday the deployment of a battlegroup in Chad was one possible option under consideration. "If a UN-sponsored mission with a projected timespan of six months to a year is not suitable for a battlegroup, then what is?" said one diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
In June Chad's president, Idriss Deby, rebuffed a French proposal to set up a humanitarian corridor through Chad's violent east to get help to Darfur's refugees. He also resisted the idea of deploying an international force. But this week, after talks with French president Nicolas Sarkozy, he changed his position.
"We have accepted it," said Mr Deby, who said details still needed to be discussed.