UN considers peace mission in Chad

Housewives Aza (L) and Fatima Mohammed sit with their children beside household utensils in their N'Gortogole camp anticipating their ejection by the Nigeriene authorities Friday. Niger has began the expulsion of nearly 100,000 Normadic Mahamid Arabs, illegal immigrants, to neighbouring Chad following constant clashes between the community and the locals in the border region of Diffa. PHOTO: AFP

Jean-Marie Guehenno, the head of UN peacekeeping, told the UN Security Council on Friday he was sending a mission to Chad and the Central African Republic, which is also affected by the Darfur conflict, to investigate options.

A monitoring operation would include a standby rapid reaction force, supplied by one country or the United Nations, to check for trouble, especially at border points. It would observe the "security situation in the region and cross-border activities of armed groups" and alert local authorities, Guehenno said in his briefing notes, obtained by Reuters.