French aid worker shot to death in Chad

(CNN) -- A French national who worked for a British aid agency was killed in eastern Chad on Thursday in a shooting, his group said.

He was identified as Pascal Marlinge, 49, and was traveling in a three-vehicle convoy near the Sudanese border.

His group, Save the Children UK, announced that it is suspending work for the time being in the volatile African nation but will assist in an investigation into the killing. The group said armed men stopped the convoy and killed Marlinge.

"A shot, or shots, were fired and Mr. Marlinge was killed. The four other humanitarian workers were unhurt," the group Save the Children UK said.

Save the Children UK chief executive Jasmine Whitbread said, "Our thoughts are with Pascal's family at this time. Staff in the UK and in Chad are profoundly shocked and upset. Pascal was loved and respected by all colleagues who have worked with him."

French Foreign Minister Bernard Koucher issued a statement deploring the killing and offering condolences to the man's family, a wife and a teenage daughter living in France.

"We are very saddened by the tragic killing," said a statement from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The agency said the killing underscores the challenges and dangers in "delivering protection and assistance to more than 240,000" refugees from Darfur and 180,000 displaced Chadians. E-mail to a friend

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