GENEVA, July 3 (Reuters) - The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has pulled its aid workers from Chad after a security threat, a spokesman said on Thursday.

The Federation, the world's largest disaster relief network, had three or four aid workers in the capital N'Djamena to support the Chadian Red Cross, according to Federation spokesman Jean-Luc Martinage.

"We have withdrawn our delegates (officials) for security reasons temporarily," Martinage told Reuters on Thursday.

"When there is a precise security threat we always withdraw our people," he said, declining to be more specific.

Chad has suffered waves of violence over the last few years, including raids over the eastern border from Sudan by Janjaweed militia and attacks by anti-government rebels, as well as bloody clashes between Arab and non-Arab communities.

Chad said on Wednesday its security forces in a southeastern village had killed 66 followers of an Islamic spiritual leader who was threatening to launch a holy war against Christians and atheists from Africa to Europe.

The Chadian Red Cross, which the Federation workers were helping, runs two camps in eastern Chad for Sudanese refugees from Darfur.

Oil-producing neighbours Chad and Sudan have long accused each other of supporting insurgent groups hostile to each other, and rebel attacks across the border in both directions over the last two months once again brought them close to all-out war.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a separate Geneva-based aid organisation, said its operations were not affected by the Federation's decision.

The ICRC deploys 280 people in Chad, including 100 expatriates, who mainly assist Chadians who have fled fighting.

"We are continuing our operations," ICRC spokeswoman Anna Schaaf said. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, editing by Mary Gabriel)

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