The EU mission to Chad will resume deployment today following delays due to fighting between rebels and government forces, with Irish troops scheduled to depart for the central African country next week, writes Mary Fitzgerald, Foreign Affairs Correspondent.
French cargo aircraft transporting logistical material for the force were due to leave for the Chadian capital N'Djamena today, a spokesman for the EU mission known as EUfor said.
Actual troop deployment is expected to follow soon afterwards, with advance units of Irish military personnel due to fly to Chad between February 21st and 25th, Comdt Dan Harvey told The Irish Times last night.
Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea will meet Lt Gen Pat Nash, the Irish general with overall command of the mission, in Paris on Wednesday for a briefing on the deployment.
The mission was delayed when rebels hoping to oust president Idriss Déby attacked N'Djamena more than a week ago. The resulting fighting caused the deaths of at least 160 people and sent thousands of civilians over the border to neighbouring Cameroon.
The situation has since stabilised, with Mr Déby claiming he has regained complete control of the country. Reports at the weekend, however, indicated that the rebels were regrouping in the centre of the country. The EU force, which consists of more than 3,700 troops drawn from 14 countries, has a UN mandate to protect civilians, including 400,000 Darfuri refugees and displaced Chadians, in eastern Chad along its border with Sudan. France is providing the largest contingent of troops. More than 400 Irish soldiers will take part in the mission.
Around 200 EU troops, including eight Irish soldiers, are already on the ground, having arrived prior to the rebel offensive. At the weekend, EUfor commander on the ground, French general Jean-Philippe Ganascia, said his troops will keep their distance from French forces already stationed in the country under a Franco-Chadian defence accord.
"There is not a single common point between [the French troops] mission and ours," he said.
Gen Ganascia, who reports to Lt Gen Pat Nash at EUfor's main headquarters in Paris, insisted the EU force would avoid taking sides in Chad's internal affairs. He pointed out that two rebel groups had made statements during the recent fighting saying they had nothing against the EU force. But the French general warned he would not hesitate to carry out a pre-emptive attack on anyone threatening civilians in the east of the country.
"If I have all the intelligence needed to know that those people I am now facing are going to attack somebody else, I will attack them too. I won't wait for them to attack if I can attack first," Gen Ganascia said.