Nigeria's oil peace talks due
2008-01-18 15:42
Lagos - Rebel groups in Nigeria's oil producing Niger Delta will return to talks with the government next week, but it may not spell an end to attacks on Africa's largest oil industry, say negotiators and militants.
Rebels had been engaged in tentative peace talks since the inauguration of a new government in May, but violence against the industry had been rising since September after a rebel commander was arrested on gun-running charges in Angola.
Militant attacks had curbed oil output from the world's eighth largest exporter by about 20%, stoking fears of a supply crunch and helping push world oil prices to record highs.
The rebels formally withdrew from talks last month, accusing the government of insincerity. But vice-president Goodluck Jonathan asked them to return at a meeting last week.
"We are going back to the negotiating table," said Chris Ekiyor, president of ethnic rights organisation, Ijaw Youth Council, and member of the negotiating team.
Mend refuses to take part in talks
Jonathan agreed to take personal charge of the talks and push the process forward. But not all rebel factions were in agreement over the return to talks.
One faction of the main rebel group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), had refused to participate in preliminary talks while its leader, Henry Okah, remained in jail in Angola.
"This is not the first time we have heard of representatives returning to the negotiating table. Mend will not be part of the process until Henry Okah is released unconditionally," a spokesperson for the faction said.
Fractious rebel groups had a wide range of demands, but all wanted more oil money to stay in the delta to bring development and jobs to the remote, impoverished region.
"This is a complex process that cannot be solved with a wand. There must be continuous engagement and all sides must be committed to the process," said Miabiye Kuromiema, a director of non-government group, Our Niger Delta, who had also been involved in the contacts.
Rebels demand a halt to military raids
Jonathan aimed to wrap up the preliminary contacts by the end of February, opening the way for formal talks.
As preconditions for the talks, rebels had demanded a halt to military raids, amnesty, demilitarisation, Okah's release and a declaration of the "developmental emergency" in the delta.
Okah's Mend faction had claimed responsibility for several attacks on industry facilities in the region over the past few weeks, including shooting at six ships in a major shipping channel, an explosion on an oil tanker and the killing of a police officer escorting a port manager.
The spokesperson said: "What you are seeing is the calm before a storm. We are working on a major terrifying event that will be a date not easily forgotten like 9/11. Those smaller raids serve as irritants and reminders that all is not well and over."