THE World Bank has lodged complaints with authorities in Chad over the country’s diversion of oil revenues to the defense ministry. Under pressure from the bank and the International Monetary Fund, Chadian authorities revealed on November 25 that nearly $4.1m in oil revenues had been allocated to the defense ministry. This could jeopardise Chad’s efforts to obtain forgiveness for its foreign debt, World Bank spokesman Richard Uku said. The World Bank is also helping to finance a 1 050km pipeline that will carry Chadian oil to the Atlantic coast of Cameroon, on the condition that the war-torn African country uses the oil revenues to rebuild its infrastructure, Uku said. – AFP