Brussels, 22/08/2007 (Agence Europe) - According to Associated Press (AP), on Tuesday France presented a draft proposal to the United Nations calling for the deployment of EU troops and UN police to Chad and the Central African Republic. The aim is to ensure protection of displaced civilians among the people arriving from Darfur.
The draft UN Security Council declaration expresses the wish of the latter to approve a year long international operation to protect displaced persons and civilians at risk in Eastern Chad and North East of the Central African Republic. Jean-Maurice Ripert, the new ambassador to France at the UN said that he hoped to see the Security Council approve Thursday's declaration in a way that would allow the EU to take a final decision on the subject of the EU force in September. According to Ripert, the deployment of European troops and UN police will probably be followed by a UN peace keeping operation. He explained that the European force deployed would have, “no military objective and would not be in charge of border protection” insofar as it would be unrealistic to try and ensure protection of a border measuring several thousand kilometres. The US appears to support this draft declaration but will pose, however, several question about the relationship between the EU, UN and Chad government, as well as about the role of force and length of mandate. (ol)