Chad still wondering why it's on Trump's travel ban list

Chad expressed to its United States ambassador the "injustice" of being added to the list of countries targeted by its travel ban, the acting foreign minister said on Tuesday. 

The landlocked African country was included in the newest version of President Donald Trump's order, which cited Chad's poor security and lack of cooperation with US authorities. 

"We have told the ambassador of our sense of injustice and misunderstanding because this decision does not reflect the level of cooperation between our two countries," acting foreign minister Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul told reporters in the capital N'Djamena.

"We have taken note of this regrettable decision, which has no political dimension," Sabre Fadoul said.

Geeta Pasi, the US ambassador for Chad, said "this decision does not affect the excellent relations between our two countries."

"We are the most important country supporting Chad because we intervene in the military and police, and we are launching a programme in the lake," Pasi said, referring to the Lake Chad region, where the Boko Haram insurgency has triggered a humanitarian crisis. 

Chad was added to the list despite Trump's order calling it "an important and valuable counterterrorism partner."

The order pointed to the presence in the northern African country of designated terror groups like Daesh, Al Qaeda and Boko Haram. Chad is the headquarters for a multinational force fighting these groups in the region.

On Monday, Chad's government said it learned "with astonishment" of the decision by the US government and expressed its incomprehension about the "official reasons for this decision; which contrasts with Chad's constant efforts and commitments in the fight against terrorism at regional and global levels."

The list of countries affected by the new measures also included Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, North Korea and Venezuela.