Nigerian militants ask for US mediation in oil crisis

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) – Nigerian militants have asked President George W. Bush, who is on a six-day visit to Africa, to help end years of unrest in their country’s impoverished oil-producing south.

Militants’ attacks on the Niger Delta oil infrastructure and kidnapping of foreign oil workers have cut the output of Africa’s biggest oil producer by about 20 percent in the past two years, helping send oil prices to all-time highs.


Militants say they are fighting for more government oil revenues for the poor region, but criminal gangs also flourish in the Niger Delta and the two are closely allied and frequently indistinguishable.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, released a letter late Sunday asking for U.S. help.

”Mr. President, considering your commitment on democracy, peace and stability and considering that MEND is devoted to the war against terrorism, we humbly ask for the mediation of you and of your great country to settle the dispute in the Niger Delta,” the militants wrote in a statement released to journalists.

AP