UN takes over Chad mission amid violence fears

CONTROL of the Chad peacekeeping mission involving Irish troops was yesterday handed over to the United Nations amid growing fears of more rebel violence and a possible influx of refugees fleeing neighbouring Darfur.

Soldiers donned the UN peacekeeping blue beret following ceremonies at military bases in Chad.

The European Union handover to the UN will see Irish commander Pat Nash step down as mission leader.

While there will be little change to Irish operations at Camp Ciara in the south-east of the central African country, the 60 Dutch troops working alongside the 440 Irish will be replaced by nearly 100 Finnish soldiers.

The handover will also see the Government reimbursed for troop and equipment costs, saving taxpayers tens of millions of euro this year.

Foreign EU ministers and diplomats attended flag changing ceremonies in Chad yesterday. Ireland was represented by Gerard Corr, ambassador to Egypt.

Control of the mission will now transfer from the EU force’s headquarters in Paris to the UN in New York. Soldier numbers will also be increased from 3,700 to 5,200 under the UN command.

Ireland’s Brigadier General Gerald Aherne will also become the force’s deputy commander.

Defence Minister Willie O’Dea — who recently visited Chad — praised the successful handover.

“Ireland can be rightly proud of the leadership role our troops and senior officers have played in this important development in peacekeeping operations.”

The Irish army’s chief of staff, Lieutenant General Dermot Earley also said: “I know Brig Gen Ger Aherne and the 99 Infantry Battalion will continue the sterling work done in Chad by the EU force.”

There is concern however that the handover is taking place during a period of heightened tension following an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court recently against Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

Four aid workers there were held hostage last week by captors allegedly protesting against the warrant.

Bashir’s government also expelled 13 aid organisations, cutting of vital supplies and raising fears that tens of thousands of refugees could abandon shelters and flee over the border into Chad, where 250,000 refugees live in camps.