Group declares cease-fire in Nigeria's south

[September 22, 2008]  LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) -- Nigeria's main militant group declared a ceasefire in the southern oil region on Sunday, ending the worst spate of militant attacks in years to hit Africa's oil giant.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said it was ceasing hostilities immediately after appeals from elders and politicians in the restive southern region.

The group said in an emailed statement that it would launch another spate of reprisal attacks in the event of another military raid on one of the group's base camps.

A military operation on Sept. 14 prompted the latest surge in violence. Before that, clashes between the military and militants were rare and normally avoided outright confrontation. The militants declared a state of war, but called it off Sunday.

"We hope that the military has learnt a bitter lesson. The next unprovoked attack will start another oil war that will be so ferocious that it will dim the pleas of the elders," the group said.

The group, which is a loose alliance of various armed gangs operating in the southern Niger Delta, attacked military positions, destroyed pipeline-switching stations and blew up pipelines that carry crude from wells to export terminals in southern Nigeria.

The state oil company said production is now down about 40 percent from Nigeria's normal daily output of 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, helping send crude prices to historical heights this year in international markets. The militant group emerged about three years ago, calling for more federally controlled oil-industry revenue to flow to the southern states where the petroleum is pumped.

The militants have focused their attacks primarily on the country's oil infrastructure, seeking to heighten pressure on the government.

Battles with the military are rare, but there have been several clashes over the past week, raising the prospects of a larger conflict or one that spirals out of control of the militant leaders or military to embroil the wider Niger Delta region.

That's the nightmare scenario for the international petroleum companies in Nigeria, which has Africa's largest oil industry, since it would leave the largely unguarded network of pipelines in tatters in areas where repairs would be impossible.

[Associated Press; By EDWARD HARRIS]

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