Spoetnik
26-09-04, 22:37
Nigerian rebels fighting government troops in the southern Port Harcourt area are poised to launch an uprising across the entire oil-producing delta region to force political reforms or gain sovereignty, according to a rebel leader.
Mujahid Dokubo-Asari told journalists on Sunday his group had also decided to attack oil installations and personnel of the Italian oil company Agip, accusing the company of lending its helicopters to the military to spy on rebel positions.
Oil production has not yet been affected by the intensifying conflict in Africa's top oil producer, but companies fear a repeat of last year's uprising by members of the Ijaw tribe, which forced them to shut temporarily 40% of the country's 2.5 million barrel per day output.
"We have decided to declare Operation Locust Feast which will cover the whole Niger delta. It is going to be an all-out war against the Nigerian state. Now the whole Ijaw nation will be fighting against the Nigerian state," Asari told Reuters by satellite phone.
(...)
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0A4FFF3D-5C77-447C-AA6A-92BC337719E0.htm
Mujahid Dokubo-Asari told journalists on Sunday his group had also decided to attack oil installations and personnel of the Italian oil company Agip, accusing the company of lending its helicopters to the military to spy on rebel positions.
Oil production has not yet been affected by the intensifying conflict in Africa's top oil producer, but companies fear a repeat of last year's uprising by members of the Ijaw tribe, which forced them to shut temporarily 40% of the country's 2.5 million barrel per day output.
"We have decided to declare Operation Locust Feast which will cover the whole Niger delta. It is going to be an all-out war against the Nigerian state. Now the whole Ijaw nation will be fighting against the Nigerian state," Asari told Reuters by satellite phone.
(...)
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0A4FFF3D-5C77-447C-AA6A-92BC337719E0.htm