(NDJAMENA) - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana was Wednesday due to round off a visit to inspect European Union forces protecting refugees from Sudan's war-torn Darfur in Chad and the Central African Republic.

Solana flew into the Chadian capital Njdamena late Tuesday from the Central African Republic -- where the EU troops are also deployed -- and met with Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno and several ministers.

Speaking after talks which lasted a little less than an hour, he said: "We discussed cooperation and development and then we spoke about the Dakar (peace) pact on relations between Chad and Sudan. The discussions were very positive."

Solana also touched on the Chadian government's recent move to invite opposition members into government, following an attempted coup against Deby at the start of February.

He hailed the installation of a new Chadian government as a "good decision."

The EU chief is also in Chad to help ensure the protection of Sudanese refugees in neighbouring war-stricken Darfur.

On Wednesday he was due to visit Camp Europa, the logistical headquarters of the EU force (EUFOR), before continuing to Abeche in eastern Chad, where the EUFOR command is deployed.

In Abeche, he will meet representatives of the UN office coordinating humanitarian affairs and non-governmental organisations.

The EUFOR mission was authorised under a UN Security Council resolution in 2007, aimed at protecting the Darfur refugees from Sudan in eastern Chad and northeast Central African Republic, as well as the internally displaced Chadians and Centrafricans, who number 450,000.

The European operation will also give assistance to the UN mission in Chad and Central Africa (MINURCAT), which has 300 instructors training local police officers to secure the refugee camps.

Solana is then scheduled to continue to Goz Beida in southeastern Chad, where an Irish battalion serving with EUFOR is setting up camp, to inspect the work of troops on the ground and visit camps housing Darfur refugees.

Last Thursday Frenchman Pascal Marlinge, working for the aid group Save the Children, was killed in an ambush as he travelled in a road convoy through the dangerous territory.

The United Nations said last month that the death toll in Darfur from five years of war, famine and disease had reached 300,000. The Sudanese government in Khartoum says the toll is much lower.

EUFOR lost a man in March in a clash with Sudanese forces when a French soldier apparently accidentally strayed into Sudanese territory.

EUFOR began its mission on March 17, already months behind schedule after lengthy negotiations within the EU over contributions, plus the rebel offensive in Chad against Ndjamena which attempted to overthrow Deby's regime.

Solana's spokeswoman said EUFOR was expected to be fully operational in the next few weeks as planned, ahead of the rainy season starting in June which would complicate movement by land around the country.

Of a total expected force of 3,700, 2,379 are in place, including French, Irish and Swedish personnel.

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