Editing Biafra (section)

=== International recognition ===
Biafra was formally [[diplomatic recognition|recognised]] by [[Gabon]], [[Duvalier dynasty|Haiti]], [[Ivory Coast]], [[Tanzania]], and [[Rhodesia|Zambia]]. Other nations, that did not officially recognise Biafra, but granted ''[[de facto]]'' recognition in the form of diplomatic support or military aid, included [[France]], [[Spain]], [[Portugal]], [[Norway]], [[Israel]], [[Rhodesia]], [[Apartheid South Africa|South Africa]], and [[Vatican City]].{{efn|{{crossreference|See [[Nigerian Civil War#International involvement]]}}}} Biafra received aid from [[non-state actor]]s, including Joint Church Aid, foreign [[mercenaries]], [[Holy Ghost Fathers]] of Ireland,<ref>{{cite web |last=McCormack |first=Fergus |date=4 December 2016 |title=Flights of angels |url=https://presspack.rte.ie/2016/12/04/would-you-believe-flights-of-angels |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123072202/https://presspack.rte.ie/2016/12/04/would-you-believe-flights-of-angels/ |archive-date=23 January 2018 |access-date=22 January 2018 |series=Would you believe? |publisher=[[RTÉ]] Press Centre}}</ref> [[Caritas Internationalis]],<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Staunton |first=Enda |date=Autumn 2000 |title=The forgotten war |url=http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/the-forgotten-war/ |url-status=dead |magazine=[[History Ireland]] magazine |volume=8 |issue=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122072543/http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/the-forgotten-war/ |archive-date=22 January 2018 |access-date=22 January 2018 |lang=en-EI}}</ref> and [[Catholic Relief Services]] of the United States.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Phillips |first=James F. |year=2018 |title=Biafra at 50 and the birth of Emergency Public Health |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=108 |issue=6 |pages=731–733 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2018.304420 |issn=0090-0036 |pmc=5944891 |pmid=29741940}}</ref> [[Médecins Sans Frontières|Doctors Without Borders]] also originated in response to the suffering.

Although the government of the [[United States]] under the presidency of [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] maintained an officially neutral stance during the war, there was strong public support for Biafra in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fifty Years Later: U.S. Intelligence Shortcomings in the Nigerian Civil War |url=https://www.cfr.org/blog/fifty-years-later-us-intelligence-shortcomings-nigerian-civil-war |website=Council on Foreign Relations |language=en}}</ref> The American Committee to Keep Biafra Alive was founded by American activists to spread pro-Biafran propaganda.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McNeil |first1=Brian |date=3 July 2014 |title='And starvation is the grim reaper': the American Committee to Keep Biafra Alive and the genocide question during the Nigerian civil war, 1968–70 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14623528.2014.936723?cookieSet=1 |journal=Journal of Genocide Research |volume=16 |issue=2–3 |pages=317–336 |doi=10.1080/14623528.2014.936723 |s2cid=70911056}}</ref> U.S. president [[Richard Nixon]] was sympathetic to Biafra. Before he won the [[1968 United States presidential election|1968 election]], he accused Nigeria of committing genocide against Biafrans and called for the United States to intervene in the war to support Biafra. However, he was ultimately unsuccessful in his efforts to aid Biafra due to the demands of the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Whalen |first1=Emily |date=5 December 2016 |title=Foreign Policy from Candidate to President: Richard Nixon and the Lesson of Biafra |url=https://notevenpast.org/foreign-policy-from-candidate-to-president-richard-nixon-and-the-lesson-of-biafra/ |website=Not Even Past}}</ref>