(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)NEW YORK, April 11_(Kyodo) _ U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is deeply concerned by the recent intensification of fighting along Chad's eastern border with Sudan's Darfur region and the extension of the armed confrontations to the southern borders with the Central African Republic.

Annan "observes that the increased violence is heightening political tensions in Chad and that its spillover effect is undermining international efforts to contribute to the stabilization of the situations in neighboring Darfur and the Central African Republic," a press statement said Tuesday.

The U.N. chief is concerned about the attacks carried out in refugee camps in southern Chad and "stresses the need to respect the safety and dignity of refugees and internally displaced persons."