Chad

Rebel groups are reportedly continuing to recruit men and boys in camps in Chad that shelter 200,000 Sudanese who have fled the fighting in the Darfur region of their own country, and the Chadian Government must take all necessary steps to stop such activities, according to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR). "People who have fled the horrors of Darfur have already suffered enough," UNHCR spokesman told a news briefing in Geneva. "It is totally unacceptable that refugee camps become re...read more

The UN’s humanitarian point-man, Jan Egeland, warned that a UN operation to assist quarter of a million people who fled to eastern Chad to escape fighting has only received a tiny fraction of the funds needed. Most of those in need of help ran from brutal terror campaigns in the Darfur region of neighbouring Sudan. Others are displaced by fighting in Chad or are refugees from war over the border in Central African Republic.

Opposition parties that boycotted last week’s presidential election in Chad said that they will not recognise the victor regardless of who wins in the final tally. Polling went ahead across Chad on 3 May despite international and opposition pressure for a delay, after rebels threatened to repeat attacks on the capital N’djamena in a bid to disrupt voting.

Four months ago, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz was fuming at the African nation of Chad for diverting oil revenues from the Chad-Cameron pipeline slated for poverty alleviation and social spending to a budget allocation for arms purchases. But now the former number two at the US Defence Department has decided that Chad, which threatened to halt its oil exports if the World Bank continued its aggressive posture, was not so wayward after all.

Voting has ended in Chad's presidential election, in which President Idriss Deby is seeking a third term in office. Opposition parties boycotted the poll and voter turnout was reported to be extremely low. Rebel groups did not carry out threats to disrupt voting, the BBC's Stephanie Hancock in the Chadian capital, N'Djamena, reports. However, the country remains divided, with serious security concerns dominating the election. Mr Deby faced four challengers, but the poll was controversial sinc...read more

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