Abeche - United Nations forces took over command from European Union peacekeepers here Sunday to protect refugees and displaced people in Chad and the Central African Republic.

The European Union’s EUFOR troops swapped their berets for the UN peacekeeping ones in the eastern Chadian town of Abeche in a symbolic handover ceremony attended by senior officials and diplomats, including French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

Some 5,200 peacekeepers from the UN's MINURCAT mission are now charged with protecting refugees from Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region and people displaced by a rebel insurgency in Chad and northern Central African Republic.

But roughly 2,000 members of the European force will remain for a few more months under the UN beret until African and Nepalese units arrive.

The handover follows the indictment earlier this month of Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the western Darfur area.

A January UN resolution to deploy the UN peacekeepers also extended the mission’s mandate to ensure security and protection of civilians in the two countries.