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| EU delays Chad peacekeeping force | EU delays Chad peacekeeping force |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| The EU has further delayed the deployment of some 3,700 peacekeepers to Chad because of recent fighting in the capital, N'Djamena. | The EU has further delayed the deployment of some 3,700 peacekeepers to Chad because of recent fighting in the capital, N'Djamena. |
| The force's commander in Chad told the BBC the rebel offensive had put the deployment back four weeks. | |
| Meanwhile, normality has returned to N'Djamena after the authorities relaxed a curfew, a BBC correspondent says. | Meanwhile, normality has returned to N'Djamena after the authorities relaxed a curfew, a BBC correspondent says. |
| However, aid agencies say they are still struggling to cope with large numbers of displaced people. | However, aid agencies say they are still struggling to cope with large numbers of displaced people. |
| Some 30,000 Chadians fled across the border into neighbouring Cameroon after rebels attacked N'Djamena last weekend. | Some 30,000 Chadians fled across the border into neighbouring Cameroon after rebels attacked N'Djamena last weekend. |
| The French-dominated EU peacekeeping force had been due to start deploying to Chad at the beginning of February to give the refugees and aid workers there a measure of protection, but the rebel offensive began at the same time. | The French-dominated EU peacekeeping force had been due to start deploying to Chad at the beginning of February to give the refugees and aid workers there a measure of protection, but the rebel offensive began at the same time. |
| Many of refugees have now converged on the border town of Kousseri, which is full to bursting point, the BBC's Arnaud Zajtman in N'Djamena says. | Many of refugees have now converged on the border town of Kousseri, which is full to bursting point, the BBC's Arnaud Zajtman in N'Djamena says. |
| Refugees flee Darfur | |
| The United Nations in Geneva says worsening security in Chad has also resulted in serious shortages of supplies for Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad. | The United Nations in Geneva says worsening security in Chad has also resulted in serious shortages of supplies for Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad. |
| A series of deadly attacks on Darfur villages has also prompted another 12,000 people to flee western Sudan, according to the UN. | |
| An estimated 240,000 Darfur refugees are already living in camps in eastern Chad and another 180,000 Chadians have been internally displaced. | |
| Initial force | |
| Jean-Philippe Ganascia, the French Brigadier General heading the EU force on the ground in Chad told the BBC that four days of fighting around the capital had led to four weeks of delay. | |
| An Irish military spokesman said the initial entry force which had been due to leave at the start of February would now fly out in the next two weeks. | |
| Although 100 soldiers are already in Chad, the mission cannot begin until the initial force arrives. | |
| Rebel threat | |
| In a separate development, an alliance of rebel groups warned the EU force not to send troops, accusing France of directly helping Chadian President Idriss Deby to fend off rebel attacks. | |
| In a statement quoted by the Reuters news agency the rebels said: "The alliance of the armed opposition no longer believes in the neutrality of a force essentially composed of French troops and whose operational direction is carried out by France." | |
| Brig-Gen Ganascia said on Monday that if the EU force had been deployed by the time of the rebel advance the peacekeepers would only have acted if civilians had been at risk. | |
| "We would have defended these people (civilians) if they were being attacked," he said. | |
| "But we wouldn't be facing or preventing the rebels' column from coming to N'Djamena because that is not directly our concern from a military point of view." |