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France asks Sudan for help
04/03/2008 18:07 - (SA)
Paris - France asked Sudan on Tuesday to help find one of its soldiers serving in the European Union force in Chad who went missing after straying into Sudan and becoming involved in a clash with Sudanese troops.
"We have asked the Sudanese authorities to help us find the soldier who has disappeared for the moment," Defence Minister Herve Morin said on France Info radio. "We are worried but we have absolutely no information."
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.
"They crossed the frontier without realising it and they found themselves about 10 metres away from armed forces, apparently Sudanese," Morin said.
"They immediately declared their identity and they were attacked immediately. One of the two men collapsed, the other was able to get out of the jeep and take cover."
A French army spokesperson said the soldier who left the vehicle was wounded but managed to rejoin EU forces who came to investigate the source of the gunfire.
Sudan said it had no knowledge of the missing soldier but reported firing between "white soldiers" and a Sudanese army unit in which one civilian was killed.
Sudanese foreign ministry spokesperson Ali al-Sadig said a small force of "white soldiers in a military jeep" had entered Sudan from Chad on Monday.
"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."
Sadig said a larger force supported by a helicopter entered Sudan from Chad shortly afterwards and clashed with the same Sudanese checkpoint. "In this clash, a Sudanese civilian was killed."
The EU said on Monday an attempt to recover the missing vehicle ran into "enemy fire and the rescue group was forced to leave the area".
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.
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