Chad's oil pipeline is barely two years old

The body lent Chad more than $39m (£23m) to build a pipeline with an estimated total cost of almost $4bn.

It was on condition that Chad's churches, trade unions and non-governmental organisations monitored how oil revenues were spent.

This was meant to guaranteed that oil money was used to help reduce poverty in Chad but the new laws would give Chad more control over the money.

'Guinea pigs'

The bank has warned if Chad breaks its agreement, that is a breach of contract. Further funds will be halted, and repayment rates on the current loan increased.

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said the law was a deciding factor in the bank's financial support for the massive pipeline project in 1999.

But the government has accused the bank of treating Chadians like guinea pigs on which to experiment with different types of management.

It wants to use $36m of revenues held in a fund that is meant to tackle poverty to deal instead with the country's financial problems.