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LAGOS - The main rebel group in Nigeria's oil-producing southern delta, announcing a brief Christmas ceasefire, have pledged not to attack oil facilities or kidnap foreigners on Christmas Day.
The faction of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) was involved in a series of attacks on the oil industry in early 2006 that shut down a fifth of Nigerian output, contributing to a rise in international oil prices.
"Effective 12 midnight, December 25, 2007 ... MEND will observe a 24 hour ceasefire in the spirit of Christmas," a spokesman for the faction which is allied to rebel leader Henry Okah, held on gun-running charges in Angola, said in a statement emailed to journalists.
"Cessation of hostilities and kidnapping of oil expatriates can be guaranteed during this time-frame," the statement said.
The ceasefire is significant because the faction had urged rebels groups on Monday to unite in order to cripple the oil industry and endorsed a call by an influential rebel leader to pull out of peace talks with the government.
MEND is a loose organisation of militia groups based in the Niger Delta, which produces about 2.1 million barrels of oil per day. The Okah faction, like others in the impoverished delta, suspended attacks after a new government took office in May promising to address the crisis in the oil heartland.
But they stepped up attacks after Okah's arrest on suspicion of gun-running in September and his allies in the MEND have resumed attacks since then.
- REUTERS
