Paris  - A French soldier allegedly killed two fellow Foreign Legion members and a peacekeeper from Togo in an unexplained shooting Tuesday in Chad, French Defence Minister Herve Morin said late Tuesday in Paris.

The suspected killer was being sought by Chadian security forces.

The three legionaries were reportedly members of a French regiment based with European EUFOR troops in Abeche, Chad. The slain Togolese soldier was assigned to the United Nation's MINURCAT peacekeeping mission.

New York  - A United Nations peacekeeping mission will assume responsibility on Sunday of providing security to refugees and war-displaced people in eastern Chad and northeastern Central African Republic, the UN said Friday.

The UN mission, with 5,200 military troops and known as MINURCAT, will take over European Union troops posted in the past year at the region between Chad and CAR where tens of thousands have taken refuge from fighting in Sudan's Darfur and Chad.

New York  - The UN Security Council extended the mandate of the UN mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR) for 12 months so it can pursue its tasks of securing peace and protect civilians in the region.

The UN mission will be reconfigured to adjust to its tasks and demands by the Chadian government. The mission is designed so it can take over the current 3,300 peacekeepers of the European Union deployed a year ago to the area when tensions arose between the two African nations.

Nairobi/Khartoum  - Sudan and Chad restored diplomatic ties after six months of no diplomatic contact, a news report said Monday.

The two neighbouring African countries broke all diplomatic ties six months ago on mutual accusations of supporting rebel groups in the other country.

Sudan accuses the government in N'Djamena of support for rebels in its Darfur province, who earlier this year almost reached the capital Khartoum. Chad, on the other hand, accuses Sudan's leaders of being the power behind rebels in the east of their country.

Tripoli - Sudan and Chad are to exchange ambassadors in two weeks, a committee assigned to restore peace between the countries announced Thursday.

The committee, which comprises representatives from Libya, Sudan and Chad, said in a statement that both countries are now committed to promote confidence and trust.

At the meeting in Tripoli, the committee also recommended accelerating the work of observation teams on the border between the two countries.

Nairobi/N'Djamena - Aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has shut down two offices in eastern Chad and evacuated its staff after armed robberies, the charity said Thursday.

MSF said that all activities in Ade and Goz Beida had been suspended indefinitely, leaving 70,000 people without access to health services.

"The fact that MSF is being attacked on a regular basis threatens

our and other aid agencies' capacity to provide assistance to populations in eastern Chad," Karline, head of mission for MSF in Chad said in a statement.