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EU to keep troops on in Chad, CAR: general
Prague (AFP) March 12, 2009 The European Union will keep more than 2,000 peacekeepers in Chad and the Central African Republic for a few months after United Nations troops take over command, a top EU officer said Thursday. "Two thirds of these personnel are going to become UN peacekeepers for a few months," French General Henri Bentegeat told reporters in Prague, where EU defence ministers were holding informal talks. EUFOR began a year-long mission a year ago to protect refugees from Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region as well as people displaced by the rebel insurgency in Chad and the northern CAR. The force was comprised of around 3,200 soldiers drawn from 14 countries, including France, whose troops make up around half the contingent. The announcement comes just a week after the International Criminal Court indicted Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the western Darfur region. Since then, the Sudanese government ordered the expulsion of a number of aid agencies, and Beshir has warned peacekeepers and aid groups to obey Sudan law or face expulsion, raising concerns about regional stability. Beshir, who has ruled Sudan since a 1989 coup, is accused of orchestrating a campaign of murder, torture, forcible displacement, rape and pillage in Darfur, a region the size of France. In January, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to deploy 5,200 UN troops to take over from the EUFOR mission on March 15. UN Resolution 1861 also decided to extend for one year until March 2010 the mandate of the UN mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) to ensure the security and protection of civilians in the two countries. In eastern Chad, carjackings, armed robberies and crime targeting national and international humanitarian staff continue, impeding their efforts to help nearly 300,000 refugees and almost 200,000 internally displaced persons. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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