Nigeria's main armed group in the oil-rich Niger Delta, MEND, declared Sunday an "indefinite ceasefire" to encourage dialogue with the government. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said in a statement it made its decision after the government "expressed its readiness to engage in serious and meaningful dialogue with every group or individual towards achieving a lasting peace in the Niger Delta."
MEND's attacks on Nigeria's oil industry have helped play havoc with oil prices on the world market and brought down the country's oil production by a third since 2006. Nigeria is the world's eighth-largest oil producer.
The group said it has put together a team to discuss its demands with the government, including Nigerian Nobel literature laureate Wole Soyinka. A key demand from MEND is that local communities must benefit from the region's oil wealth.
The ceasefire announcement came six days after President Umaru Yar'Adua met for the first time with MEND leader Henry Okah. The presidency described last Monday's talks as "fruitful", and it emerged on the day of the meeting that the government plans to plough an extra 10 percent of the money it makes from Niger Delta oil back into the region.
Okah on Friday urged the rebels, who have shunned a recent government amnesty, to give dialogue a chance. In a bid to halt the violence in this OPEC member, the administration in Abuja offered unconditional pardon to armed activists who laid down their arms and said it was open to dialogue. It also freed Okah in July after two years in jail for high treason and arms trafficking.
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