Ban proposes UN endorse EU force for Chad, CAR

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 17 (Reuters) European Union peacekeepers would go to Chad and the Central African Republic to tackle spillover from Sudan's Darfur conflict under a plan by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made public.

Ban's yesterday's proposal to the Security Council amends a suggestion for a UN peacekeeping force he made in February, after Chad's President Idriss Deby objected. Deby told French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in June he could accept a force composed of troops from France and other EU countries.

The conflict that flared in Darfur four years ago after rebels took up arms against the Khartoum government has led to refugees being driven into neighboring Chad and Central African Republic by attacks by government-armed Janjaweed guerrillas.

This in turn has created turmoil in those countries and played into existing conflicts there. The main problem is in Chad, where the United Nations says there are some 400,000 Sudanese and Chadian refugees in 12 UN-run camps.

Ban's plan, if it goes ahead, would complement the dispatch of up to 26,000 UN and African Union troops and police to Darfur itself, approved by the Security Council last month but yet to go into effect.

''The two deployments would have a material impact on the security situation in the region,'' Ban said in his report.

Security Council endorsement of the Chad and Central African Republic operation would give vital UN backing to a deployment for which Brussels and Paris have already started planning. UN police would accompany the EU soldiers.

Ban said the deployment in eastern Chad and northeastern Central African Republic would last for a year, and would then give way to a new arrangement that might involve UN forces taking over from the EU.

The main purpose would be to protect refugees and other civilians. In Chad the force would assist the delivery of aid while in the Central African Republic it would also try to block the transit of armed groups between Sudan and Chad.

The troops would be ''equipped to respond robustly to any hostile action,'' he said.

However, Ban said the international force would stay away from the border area, while Chadian police trained and monitored by UN police would continue to serve in refugee camps.

Ban's report gave no figures for the force. His previous plan was for up to 11,000 UN soldiers and police, but EU diplomats have spoken of a force of 1,500 to 3,000 troops who would go at the end of October at the earliest.

The overall presence would be coordinated by a UN-appointed head of mission, who would also be UN special representative for Chad and be based at the mission headquarters in the country's capital N'Djamena.

Reuters SZ VP0505