“Chad to double oil output by 2016, develop minerals –minister”, October 2014
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* Production at 130,000 bpd by end-2014, 260,000 bpd by 2016
* Firms assessing mineral deposits including gold, nickel
* Economic growth between 11 pct-13 pct in 2014
* Chad sees ongoing security costs amid regional instability
http://www.reuters.com/article/chad-economy-idUSL6N0S21K620141007
“Central African Republic (CAR): Violence linked to Sudan and Iran”
http://elizabethkendal.blogspot.gr/2013/11/central-african-republic-car-violence.html
“Nigeria’s Khomeini, Spreading Iran’s Revolution to Africa”, December 2015
IRANIAN SUPPORT FOR TERRORISM
https://www.clarionproject.org/sites/default/files/Iranian-Support-For-Terrorism.pdf
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)
http://www.counterextremism.com/threat/al-qaeda-islamic-maghreb-aqim
“Chad’s relations with Libya, Sudan, France and the US”, April 2011
After the Arab Spring: Algeria's standing in a new world
http://www.thecommentator.com/article/3030/after_the_arab_spring_algeria_s_standing_in_a_new_world
“Al Qaeda in North Africa”
http://globalsecuritystudies.com/Bresslin%20AQ%20North%20Africa%20(ag%20edits).pdf
“Chad: Gaddafi's Best Ally”, July 2011
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/2237/chad-gaddafi-ally
“Libya, Chad and Sudan – An Ambiguous Triangle?”
http://www.zms.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/mittelmeerstudien/mam/downloads/zms_-_wps_-_5.pdf
“France Prepares for War in the Central African Republic”, October 2015
https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11011.19
“Nigeria's Boko Haram pledges allegiance to Islamic State”, March 2015
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In the past Boko Haram is thought to have had links with al-Qaeda.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-31784538
“Bin Laden's $20m African 'blood diamond' deals”, October 2002
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The terrorist network led by Osama bin Laden struck deals in 'blood diamonds' worth over $20 million in the months before the attacks of 11 September 2001.
Ahead of London's $500-per-ticket, diamond-trade gala dinner next month, when Nelson Mandela is to congratulate the trade on its efforts to eradicate smuggling, The Observer can reveal the true size of the cash stockpile al-Qaeda has made from the stones mined illegally by Revolutionary United Front rebels in Sierra Leone.
'Given that the attacks on America cost only about $500,000, it is terrifying that al-Qaeda managed to convert $20m of its cash into diamonds,' said Alex Yearsley of Global Witness, which campaigns against the 'blood diamonds' trade.
'The ease with which terrorist organisations can use diamonds as a source of funding and money laundering is frightening; they can easily transport them over borders without detection and convert them back into banknotes whenever they need the money.'
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/20/alqaida.terrorism
“The Long History of French Military Intervention in the Middle East and Africa”, November 2015
https://mises.org/blog/long-history-french-military-intervention-middle-east-and-africa
“Kenya woos S. Sudan after oil pipeline deal with Uganda collapses”, May 2016
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Kenya is reviving its deal with South Sudan in which the latter will export oil through Lamu Port. This is aimed at increasing use of the Lokichar-Lamu crude oil pipeline.
The move comes after the collapse of the Uganda deal. However, experts warn that Kenya could find itself in a difficult situation again saying Total, which killed the Uganda deal, is the main holder of the majority of oil blocks in South Sudan.
“South Sudan to split Total oil block”, September 2012
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South Sudan will split a massive oil block largely held by Total into three parts, giving one to the French company and the others to two firms, officials said, in the biggest shake-up of the nation's concessions since it seceded from Sudan.
One oil industry source identified the other two operators as U.S. major Exxon Mobil and Kuwait's Kufpec, but the government did not confirm the names.
Total, Exxon Mobil and Kuwait Petroleum Corp, the state-owned parent firm of Kufpec, all declined to comment on the division of the mostly unexplored block, known as Block B.
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French firm Total is behind Uganda’s involvement with Tanzania in the crude oil pipeline. The firm owns oil blocks in Congo, Uganda and South Sudan, and would be interested in having all its resources together transported through the Port of Tanga.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southsudan-total-idUSBRE88C13V20120913
“Chad : Ethnic Groups”
Chad has more than 200 distinct ethnic groups,[57] which create diverse social structures. The colonial administration and independent governments have attempted to impose a national society, but for most Chadians the local or regional society remains the most important influence outside the immediate family. Nevertheless, Chad's peoples may be classified according to the geographical region in which they live.[7][36]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad#Ethnic_groups
“Iran and Hamas back Sudan's Bashir”, March 2009
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2009/03/200937132946576390.html
“Egypt's Brotherhood backs Hizbullah in spat with Cairo”, April 2009
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The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group, has pledged its support for Hizbullah as a much publicized spat between the Lebanese group and the Cairo government deepened this week. In a statement released late on Wednesday, the Brotherhood said that Hizbullah's admission of using Egypt as a base to facilitate weapons shipments to Hamas in the Gaza Strip did not constitute a threat to national security.
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Authorities in Cairo arrested 49 men accused of working on behalf of Hizbullah to plot attacks against Egyptian institutions and Israeli tourists in the Sinai region of Egypt.
“Iranian president does big business in Europe”, January 2016
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The first visit by an Iranian leader to Europe in more than a decade has begun with a flurry of business deals.
Hassan Rouhani landed in Italy on Monday and within hours was striking agreements worth billions of dollars to modernize Iran's infrastructure.
Saipem (SAPMY) was one of the first companies out of the gate, signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Parsian Oil & Gas Development Company.
Saipem said the agreement covered "potential cooperation in revamping and upgrading the Pars Shiraz and Tabriz [oil] refineries."
Danieli (DNIYY) said it signed agreements worth 5.7 billion euros ($6 billion) to supply heavy machinery and equipment to Iran.
These deals are among the 14 contracts, MOUs and cooperation agreements signed in Rome on Monday, according to Iran's state news agency IRNA.
Further deals worth more than $18 billion were expected on Tuesday, IRNA reported.
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Similar deals are expected to be unveiled in Paris on Thursday when Rouhani meets with French President Francois Hollande and business leaders.
Related: Iran wants to buy 500 planes and resume flights to U.S.
A deal for Iran to buy more than 100 aircraft from Airbus (EADSF) is widely expected to be signed in Paris.
http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/26/news/companies/iran-europe-deals-italy-france/
“Turkey attacks France on Libya ‘crusade’, March 2011
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The Turkish government on Thursday lashed out at France over its approach to military intervention in Libya and its refusal to confer sole command of operations to Nato.
Ahmet Davutoglu, foreign minister, also said it would be “impossible for us to share responsibility in an operation some authorities have described as a crusade” – a reference to the gaffe made earlier this week by Claude Guéant, French interior minister.
Reçep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister, cast doubt on the motives for the French-led intervention, telling a conference: “I advise our western friends, when they look at this region, to see the hungry children, the suffering mothers, the poverty . . . I wish they would not only see oil, gold mines or underground wealth.”
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Turkey’s insistence that Nato should have sole control of all military operations in Libya reflects the deep distrust and antipathy felt in Ankara towards Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president.
Mr Sarkozy, who has long flaunted his opposition to Turkey’s efforts to join the EU, was openly slighted by his hosts when he visited Ankara last month and was pilloried in the press, with photographs staged to highlight his short stature.
Turkish ministers and officials were infuriated at being excluded from Saturday’s summit in Paris, a snub that hardened their doubts about the western-led operation.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fe514f9c-5631-11e0-8de9-00144feab49a.html#axzz4ElY2556p
“Rebellion and fragmentation in northern Mali”
“Algeria's Hezbollah stance 'reflects view on resistance, not terrorism'”,
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When Arab League foreign ministers voted by a majority earlier this month to declare Hezbollah a “terrorist organisation,” Algeria stood with Lebanon, Iraq and Syria in rejecting the move.
According to an adviser to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the country’s refusal to side with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf monarchies against the Lebanese militia was based on a “principle of non-interference” in other countries’ affairs set out by the president himself.
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Algeria had already refused to participate in international
coalitions in Syria and in Yemen with Saudi Arabia and some
other Arab League states because of the principle of non-interference, he said.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/algeria-risks-isolation-arab-league-over-hezbollah-stance-1870366475
“Why did Iran, Morocco resume relations?”, January 2015
“Sudan's President Omer al Bashir’s New Best Friend - Russia?”, February 2012
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But now Moscow is preparing a diplomatic initiative that will put Western assumptions even more strongly to the test, by cozying up to the Sudanese regime of President Omer Hassan Ahmad al Bashir.
Al Bashir has a rather unusual international condition – he is the third sitting head of state indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the first to be charged with genocide. On 12 July 2010, after a lengthy appeal by the prosecution, the ICC determined that there was sufficient evidence for charges of genocide to be brought and issued a warrant for his arrest containing three separate counts due to his government’s murderous rampages in Darfur.
But a number of countries have simply ignored the warrant, and al Bashir has made state visits to both Turkey and China.
The Russian Federation’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mikhail Bogdanov, traveled with a delegation to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum and held a series of meetings with top Sudanese officials. Minister of Foreign Affairs Salah al-Din Wansi headed the Sudanese delegation. Bogdanov said that he and his delegation came to Sudan to convene the first "Russian Sudanese Joint Working Group," formed after Sudanese Foreign Affairs minister Ali Karti's visit to Moscow in December 2010.
Following a meeting with al Bashir on 1 February, who encouraged the "Russian Sudanese Joint Working Group" meeting to put before them "the priorities and joint schemes which will help in enhancing the two countries' relations," Bogdanov returned to Moscow and told reporters that the Russian government intends to support Sudan in order to find durable solutions to all of its outstanding issues with South Sudan, saying, "President Omar al Bashir discussed very important issues and he briefed us on the outcomes of the recent African Union summit, and the differences between Sudan and South Sudan."
And oh, Bogdanov also added that his meeting with al Bashir touched on economic relations and Russian investments in the Sudan in the fields of oil, energy and railways before adding that the two countries shared “identical” views and his hopes that the ministerial meetings will produce the desired results.
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Sudans-President-Omer-al-Bashirs-New-Best-Friend-Russia.html
“Algerian Foreign Policy in the Context of the Arab Spring”, January 2013
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Since it gained independence in 1962, Algeria promoted an international architecture that defended the sovereignty of states and the right to decolonization.[2] It became a strong voice of African and Arab revolutionaries and a leading proponent of the rights of the developing world, rejecting the Cold War rigid bipolar structure and mobilizing support in multilateral forums for its agenda of self-determinati