UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- A decision on the number of U.N. troops to be deployed for security operations in the Central African Republic and Chad has been postponed.
The U.N. Security Council announced Wednesday the troop authorization decision will not be made until December, pending further recommendations.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently proposed sending 6,000 troops to the volatile region as a way to keep security operations in place when the European Union force's mandate expires in March 2009.
The Security Council, while acknowledging an intention to send U.N. troops, has called on Ban to submit a new report by Nov. 15 with options on the "size, structure and mandate of the proposed U.N. military presence," the release said.
The United Nations has been working to increase peacekeeping efforts in the region as a result of the ongoing violence in the Darfur region of Sudan, which has forced thousands of refugees into Chad and CAR.
