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Chad threatens to halt oil export
Chad has threatened to cut off the flow of oil if the World Bank does not release funds frozen in a bank account in London.
The announcement, made in a statement on Saturday from the government spokesman, followed a late night meeting between Idriss Deby, the president, and his cabinet ministers to discuss how to react following a rebel attack on the capital on Thursday.
The government gave the World Bank until Tuesday to unfreeze the bank account or else it would shut down the pipeline that carries Chadian oil through Cameroon to terminals on the Atlantic Ocean.
The amount of oil Chad exports - 160,000 barrels per day - is very small by world standards, but the threat demonstrates the government's desperation for international intervention in the country.
While a rebel attack on Thursday on the capital was defeated, the rebels are believed to be regrouping nearby and the threat of a violent overthrow of Deby's government has not diminished.
Poverty alleviation
As Africa's newest oil producer, Chad had reached a deal with the World Bank for the financing of a pipeline on condition that most of the revenues would be used to alleviate poverty.
Earlier this year, Deby broke that deal so he could use the money to finance his military and the World Bank suspended $124 million in aid to his government.
An Exxon Mobil-led consortium exported 133 million barrels of oil from Chad between October 2003 and December 2005, according to the World Bank.
Chad, which receives a 12.5% royalty on each barrel exported, earned $307 million, the bank said.
Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor, the communications minister and government spokesman, said that attempts to restrict how the government spends its oil revenues was a violation of Chad's sovereignty.
He said government officials would enter into negotiations with the consortium so that oil revenues would no longer be deposited into Western banks, but given directly to the government.
The government presumably wants the frozen funds to finance the military's fight against the rebels.
The threat to cut off the oil also puts pressure on the consortium to co-operate, since it has invested $4.2 billion in the pipeline.
Sudan accused
The government also organised a peace rally in central N'djamena on Saturday to demonstrate Deby's popularity.
Deby had earlier announced that he was severing relations with neighbouring Sudan and he threatened to expel 200,000 Sudanese refugees from his country if the international community did not do more to stop what he claimed were Sudanese efforts to destabilise his government.
Deby repeatedly has accused Sudan of hiring mercenaries to overthrow his government.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E5AE2034-DFD8-48E6-88A1-480633CE5FAF.htm
The government gave the World Bank until Tuesday to unfreeze the bank account or else it would shut down the pipeline that carries Chadian oil through Cameroon to terminals on the Atlantic Ocean.
The amount of oil Chad exports - 160,000 barrels per day - is very small by world standards, but the threat demonstrates the government's desperation for international intervention in the country.
While a rebel attack on Thursday on the capital was defeated, the rebels are believed to be regrouping nearby and the threat of a violent overthrow of Deby's government has not diminished.
Poverty alleviation
As Africa's newest oil producer, Chad had reached a deal with the World Bank for the financing of a pipeline on condition that most of the revenues would be used to alleviate poverty.
Earlier this year, Deby broke that deal so he could use the money to finance his military and the World Bank suspended $124 million in aid to his government.
An Exxon Mobil-led consortium exported 133 million barrels of oil from Chad between October 2003 and December 2005, according to the World Bank.
Chad, which receives a 12.5% royalty on each barrel exported, earned $307 million, the bank said.
Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor, the communications minister and government spokesman, said that attempts to restrict how the government spends its oil revenues was a violation of Chad's sovereignty.
He said government officials would enter into negotiations with the consortium so that oil revenues would no longer be deposited into Western banks, but given directly to the government.
The government presumably wants the frozen funds to finance the military's fight against the rebels.
The threat to cut off the oil also puts pressure on the consortium to co-operate, since it has invested $4.2 billion in the pipeline.
Sudan accused
The government also organised a peace rally in central N'djamena on Saturday to demonstrate Deby's popularity.
Deby had earlier announced that he was severing relations with neighbouring Sudan and he threatened to expel 200,000 Sudanese refugees from his country if the international community did not do more to stop what he claimed were Sudanese efforts to destabilise his government.
Deby repeatedly has accused Sudan of hiring mercenaries to overthrow his government.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E5AE2034-DFD8-48E6-88A1-480633CE5FAF.htm
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The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement that Chad’s President Idriss Deby, who accuses Sudan of backing rebels that attacked the capital N’Djamena last week, had promised that nobody would be forced to leave.
"I ... am pleased to report that he (Deby) has reaffirmed that refugees will not be ’refouled’ (forcibly returned) and Chad will abide by international principles," said High Commissioner Antonio Guterres.
But Guterres, who spoke to Deby on Sunday night, said that the Chad leader had repeated his concerns about the difficulty of providing security for both the refugees and the humanitarian organisations that are helping them.
"UNHCR strongly appeals to the international community and its various organisations to do everything possible to urgently establish peace and security in Darfur," the former Portuguese prime minister said in the statement.
Thursday’s attack on the capital was the boldest yet by rebels who have vowed to end Deby’s nearly 16-year rule and block a May 3 presidential poll in which he is standing for re-election.
Deby says the international community has been slow to react to the border crisis with Sudan, a spillover from the Darfur conflict in which pro-Khartoum Arab militias battle other ethnic groups.
He had warned that if the international community did not solve the long-running Darfur crisis by June, and guarantee security on the border, then his country would no longer be able to shelter Sudanese refugees living in UNHCR-run camps.
http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=15106