Chad risks civil war if no May election president

N'DJAMENA, Apr 18 (Reuters) Chad President Idriss Deby today said his country risked falling into civil war if a presidential election in which he is standing was not held as planned on May 3.

''If there is no election on May 3, there will be a constitutional void and one cannot rule out a generalised civil war promoted by the Khartoum regime (Sudan),'' Deby told Reuters in an interview.

He also ruled out his government making any compromise in its dispute with the World Bank over oil revenues. Chad has threatened to halt oil production unless the bank releases frozen Chadian oil royalties by the end of the month.

REUTERS SB KP2121