EU troops start to deploy in Chad

Chad: The EU has resumed the deployment of a peacekeeping force (Eufor) to Chad after suspending it during a rebel assault on…

Chad:The EU has resumed the deployment of a peacekeeping force (Eufor) to Chad after suspending it during a rebel assault on the capital of the central African state. Irish troops will begin to deploy next week.

The Eufor deployment, which has a mission to protect refugees, civilians and aid workers in eastern Chad, restarted yesterday despite warnings from Chadian rebels that they would consider it a hostile force.

The rebels, who accused France of helping Chadian president Idriss Deby repel their attack on the capital N'Djamena this month, say the predominance of French troops in the EU force means it cannot be neutral in Chad's civil war.

Eufor said a military transport plane arrived yesterday in the eastern Chadian town of Abeche, marking the effective restart of the deployment operation, which would disperse 3,700 EU troops to east Chad and Central African Republic. "This will be followed by further flights in the coming days to Abeche and N'Djamena," the EU force said.

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At the start of February, EU commanders temporarily suspended the planned deployment after Chadian rebels stormed into N'Djamena, provoking two days of heavy fighting in the streets. The rebels have since withdrawn. EU commanders insist that despite the heavy French component, Eufor will stay neutral in Chad's conflict.

The humanitarian crisis in east Chad, where the UN runs camps for Sudanese refugees and displaced Chadians, became more acute in recent days after Sudanese army and militia attacks in west Darfur drove thousands more refugees over the border.

Chad said it would absorb no more refugees and said it would expel the newcomers unless the international community relocated them in another country or sent them home.

After withdrawing from the capital a week ago, following battles that killed at least 165 people and injured more than 800, the Chadian rebels moved back towards the Sudan border.

Chad accuses its eastern neighbour Sudan of arming and backing the anti-Deby rebels, a charge denied by Khartoum. France has called on Chad's government to provide information about civilian opposition figures who were arrested during the dying hours of the rebel assault this month. Opposition members say they do not know where their colleagues are being held.

- (Reuters)