UN takes back criticism of Irish troops

BOTH the UN and Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign policy chief, have defended the actions of Irish troops in Chad when armed groups tried to attack refugee camps and NGO compounds at the weekend.

The troops were accused of failing to respond to a call for help from a UN agency in Goz Beida where the Irish battalion is based, and of failing to intervene in fighting between rebel groups and the Chadian army.

However, the UN apologised for the accusations, made by their spokesperson who was based some distance away in the capital D’Njemina at the time.