N’DJAMENA, Chad, 16 April 2006 — Chad yesterday 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 from the government spokesman, followed a late night meeting between President Idriss Deby and his Cabinet ministers to discuss how to react following a rebel attack Thursday on the capital.

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 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.

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 percent 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 cooperate, since it has invested $4.2 billion in the pipeline.

The rebels released a statement on their website, again condemning Deby’s refusal to negotiate with them. A key issue has been Deby’s decision to change the constitution so he can run for a third term as president in elections set for May 3.

“The regime of Idriss Deby is the basis of the crisis in this part of the African continent,” the rebel statement said.