Word: niger
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...brief weeks this autumn, there were hopes that the long-running civil war in the Niger Delta in southeastern Nigeria might finally be coming to an end. President Umaru Mousa Yar'Adua announced an amnesty deal for rebels and promised billions of dollars of investment in the poor but oil-rich delta, a 10% stake for the local population in the region's oil ventures and a small monthly stipend and re-training for ex-fighters. In return, thousands of militants declared a ceasefire and handed in their weapons, while their leaders initiated talks with the government on an eventual...
...toward negotiating a truce with the rebels have been out of action for weeks. Yar'Adua, a chain smoker with chronic health problems, has been in Saudi Arabia for nearly a month receiving treatment for pericarditis, an inflammation around the heart. In addition, the President's special adviser on Niger Delta affairs, Timi Alaibe, the key middleman who brought the militants to the table, has been in London for his own medical treatment since early October. The absence of the two men has caused negotiations to stall just as the insurgency's leaders are under the most pressure from their...
Disunity among the rebels is the second reason for pessimism. In the last few years, most of the militants have operated as part of a loose alliance called the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), led by a former businessman named Henry Okah. Then, in September 2007, Okah was imprisoned on charges of treason, terrorism, illegal possession of firearms and arms trafficking. Since his release in July, he has fallen out with other guerrilla leaders...
...faltering, MEND rebels launched a "warning strike" on Saturday, with 35 militants attacking a pipeline jointly owned by Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. "While wishing the President a speedy recovery," said rebel spokesman Jomo Gbomo, "a situation where the future of the Niger Delta is tied to the health and well-being of one man is unacceptable." He added that the government has been telling foreign investors that the situation in the Niger Delta was under control - an assertion "far from the truth," he says. And he gave the government a deadline...
TUNISIA ALGERIA MOROCCO GAMBIA BURKINA FASO NIGER EQUATORIAL GUINEA CAMEROON ANGOLA LIBYA EGYPT ERITREA CHAD SUDAN UGANDA ZIMBABWE LESOTHO SWAZILAND...