"For a peacekeeping force to operate in the midst of a war is a very dangerous position to be in," according to Jean-Marie Guéhenno, the French head of United Nations peacekeeping operations. In a briefing for the Security Council he warned about the international repercussions of the proxy war between Chad and Sudan being fought out by cross-border rebel groups.
This includes the implications for the two UN-mandated operations, EUfor (with a large Irish contingent) and Unamid, set up to protect refugees and aid personnel in both states. Their position will become unsustainable if they are perceived to be indistinguishable from any of the warring parties.
Sudanese troops have been attacking Chad-based rebels near Darfur in recent days just as Unamid's terms of references were agreed. The EUfor deployment will resume today after last week's heavy fighting in Chad's capital N'Djamena between rebel groups supported by Sudan and the government forces led by president Idriss Déby.
The rebel groups have retreated but say their attacks will be resumed. During the fighting last week French troops based in the capital stayed out of the frontline fighting; but French president Nicolas Sarkozy said they could yet intervene in support of the Chad government after the Security Council passed a resolution supporting it.
Ireland is directly involved because 430 Irish troops are to serve in EUfor, whose overall commander is Lieut Gen Patrick Nash, based in Paris. The operational commander in Chad is French and France supplies 2,000 of the 3,700-strong force. In a recent interview with this newspaper Lieut Gen Nash insisted that the force must be seen to be independent of French interests in Chad - a former French colony and part of that country's sphere of influence in Africa.
That will be essential if EUfor is to operate effectively and fulfill its UN mandate. Rebel groups are not likely to differentiate between French forces and UN troops if there is a considerable overlap between their objectives in any new round of fighting. Lieut Gen Nash was wise to say that the operation's continuing integrity will be reviewed next September.
The EUfor deployment has been fully mandated politically and carefully planned militarily. It is to perform an essential humanitarian task and has the military means to defend itself if attacked. But recent events underline the difficult and pressing political issues that are central to the region's future. The Chad and Sudanese operations are organically connected and require to be tackled politically at regional and UN levels if the humanitarian tasks are to be properly fulfilled.
Forthcoming elections in Sudan under the overall agreement reached in 2005 to settle the long-standing civil war between the northern and southern parts of the country play into the Darfur conflict, as does tension over oil resources in Sudan and Chad involving Chinese and US interests. Mr Guéhenno's point is therefore well taken.