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Chad, part of France's African holdings until 1960, endured three decades of civil warfare as well as invasions by Libya before a semblance of peace was finally restored in 1990. The government eventually drafted a democratic constitution, and held flawed presidential elections in 1996 and 2001.

In 1998, a rebellion broke out in northern Chad, which has sporadically flared up despite several peace agreements between the government and the rebels. In 2005, new rebel groups emerged in western Sudan and made probing attacks into eastern Chad, despite signing peace agreements in December 2006 and October 2007. Power remains in the hands of an ethnic minority. In June 2005, President Idriss Deby held a referendum successfully removing constitutional term limits and won another controversial election in 2006. Sporadic rebel campaigns continued throughout 2006 and 2007, and the capital experienced a significant rebel threat in early 2008.

In the latest example of Chad’s refusal to abide by international law, the World Bank quietly abandoned its $60 million subsidy to help Chad build an oil pipeline in its country.

Chad agreed to the project, which specified that profits from the pipeline would be used to help average citizens. As the price of crude oil has risen, Chad’s leadership has gotten very rich and has returned the funds to the World Bank so it can continue to keep its people subjugated.

Efforts continue in order to effect a reconciliation summit between Sudan and Chad to end the current tension between the two neighboring countries, a Qatari official said.In statements published in Doha, the state minister for foreign affairs, Ahmed Bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud, said that there are contacts to hold a reconciliation summit between the presidents of Sudan and Chad soon to resolve differences between the two countries.