Paris asks Sudanese help to find the French missing soldier
March 4, 2008 (PARIS) — France has asked for Sudan’s help to find a French special forces soldier missing following a skirmish near the Chadian border, Defence Minister Herve Morin said on Tuesday.
The French army sergeant and another soldier serving in the European security force in Chad unwittingly crossed into Sudanese territory while on a reconnaissance patrol and were fired upon by Sudanese soldiers.
“We have asked the Sudanese authorities to help us find the missing soldier,” who is serving as part of a European Union peacekeeping force in eastern Chad and the Central African Republic, Morin said.
“Naturally, we are worried,” Morin said, adding that Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had contacted the Sudanese governement Monday night.
The European Union said on Monday an attempt to recover the missing vehicle ran into “enemy fire and the rescue group was forced to leave the area.”
This statement confirms what the Sudan’s foreign ministry said earlier about clashes with the French rescue team.
“An hour later another three military jeeps protected by military helicopter came back and some casualties have been reported.
“I can just confirm that a civilian was killed. I’m not sure about any casualties among the Sudanese army or the invading force. I have no confirmation of anyone detained,” the spokesman said.
However, Sudan has said that it has no information that anyone was detained in the incident, and that it was working to ensure such a “serious” incident does not happen again, warning EUFOR it had no mandate to cross international borders.
Sudan said the French soldier was killed when the army retaliated to the fire from the reconnaissance patrol.
“They opened fire on a Sudanese army checkpoint. Our people returned fire and broke the jeep down but caused no casualties,” he said.
“The soldiers (in the jeep) fled on foot,” he said. “We do not know if they are French … We don’t know if they entered Sudan on purpose or not.”
The 3,700-strong EUFOR has a United Nations mandate to provide security for more than 400,000 people in eastern Chad. More than half of the force will be provided by France.
(ST)
Inormation for this report provided by AFP and Reuters