September 23, 2007

Terrorism in Nigeria

A powerful Nigerian armed group threatened in an e-mail to the media to resume attacks on oil facilities and kidnapping of foreigners, ending a four-month ceasefire. The threat to disrupt oil supplies from Africa's top producer follows the arrest of a factional leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Henry Okah, in Angola on arms trafficking charges on September 3. MEND bombed oil facilities and abducted foreign workers in the southern delta from late 2005 to May this year, when President Umaru Yar'Adua took office promising to solve the crisis. Since last year dozens of troops, militants and civilians have been killed, thousands of foreign workers have left and oil output from the world's eighth largest exporter has been cut by a fifth, raising world prices.

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