Chad: peacekeepers delayed

Efforts to launch a European Union peace-keeping mission (Eufor) in battle-ravaged eastern Chad will continue at a Friday summit in Brussels.

The timetable for Eufor's deployment has been pushed back because of nations' refusals to provide vital resources such as attack helicopters.  The first troops were scheduled to arrive by the end of the wet season in late October, but the force now looks unlikely to be operational before May next year.

There are also worries over the effectiveness and loyalties of the force, if it ever gets of the ground. A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says Eufor would need 12,500 soldiers to ensure the security of the region's displaced civilians. Yet the EU has plans for only 3,500 troops. France will contribute the lion's share of this force, but rebels in Chad have accused Paris of being partial to President Idriss Deby's government.

In the meantime, fighting between rebels and government forces is escalating, disrupting humanitarian supplies to refugees from neighbouring Darfur. The rebels accuse Deby of tyranny and favouring members of his ethnic Zaghawa community. Several former prime ministers of Chad are Zaghawa, as well as many other members of the government.