Nigerian rebels end truce, threaten oil attacks

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerias main militant group called off a three-month-old ceasefire in the Niger Delta on Saturday and threatened to unleash an all-out assault on Africas biggest oil and gas industry.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), responsible for years of attacks on oil facilities, said it could no longer trust the govt to negotiate demands for greater control of the regions natural resources.
The threat of unrest comes at a time when President Umaru YarAdua has been out of the country receiving medical treatment for more than two months and there is uncertainty over who is in charge of state affairs.
It is sufficiently clear at this point in time the government of Nigeria has no intentions of considering the demands made by this group for the control of the resources and land, MEND said in a statement emailed to media.
All companies related to the oil industry in the Niger Delta should prepare for an all-out onslaught against their installations and personnel, it said. Attacks by MEND on Nigerias oil and gas industry in the past few years have prevented the OPEC member from producing much above two-thirds of its capacity, costing it about $1 billion a month in lost revenues.
Nigerias light crude is popular with US and European refiners as it is easily processed into fuel products and previous attacks by MEND helped lift global oil prices to record highs near $150 a barrel in 2008.
Violence has subsided in the Niger Delta since YarAduas amnesty programme last year led to thousands of militants surrendering their weapons in exchange for clemency, a monthly stipend, education and job opportunities.
MEND has been severely weakened by the departure of field commanders who accepted the amnesty, but oil infrastructure is extremely exposed and it takes little to launch an attack.
Many of the young fighters who handed over weapons last year spent months at a time living in camps deep in the creeks, getting high on locally-made gin, and have known little else.
Security sources say only a fraction of their weapons were surrendered and it would be easy for guerrilla groups to reform under new field commanders.
A resurgence in attacks would be a major setback to YarAduas embattled administration, already dealing with legal challenges to its authority in the presidents absence.
Some analysts had warned YarAduas reluctance to hand over to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, who is from the Niger Delta, during his medical absence could in itself spark renewed unrest in the region.