Chad says to stop oil output if no World Bank deal

Chad will stop its oil production from Tuesday unless it reaches an agreement with the World Bank to end a dispute over the use of oil revenues, a government minister said on Friday - Reuters 14 Apr 2006:

"We will turn off the tap in a week if there is no agreement with the World Bank," Human Rights Minister Abderamane Djasnabaille told a news conference after a cabinet meeting. He said production would be stopped on Tuesday, April 18 at midday.

The World Bank suspended loans to Chad on Jan. 12, saying the government had breached an agreement with the bank when it changed a law to access oil profits from a pipeline operated by a U.S.-led consortium that were meant to benefit the poor. The bank also froze pipeline profits saved in a London escrow account, which it has refused to release to the government. The savings include royalties from the pipeline's operator, Exxon Mobil.

"The World Bank does not have the right to block funds that do not belong to it," Djasnabaille said.