The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has announced it intends to attack Nigeria's main oil pipelines sometime in the next 30 days. The threat comes in response to a claim by the head of NNPC, a state-run oil company, that $12 million has been paid to militant groups by the company to prevent pipeline attacks. MEND hopes the attack will prove it has not received any money.
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Global oil prices have been falling recently, amid concerns that a slow-down in the US economy will reduce demand. Nonetheless, oil prices are volatile, especially in the middle of the hurricane season in the U.S., and any disruption to Nigerian oil-production could push up prices. Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa and the 11th largest in the world.
Oil pipelines are relatively easy targets for militants to attack, as they stretch across great distances making them difficult to defend. NNPC admitted it had begun paying local militant groups for protection after it lost $81 million in two months because of attacks. Nigerian oil production in general is down by about 25 per cent because of regular attacks on oil pipelines.
MEND claims to represent the many inhabitants of the oil-rich Niger Delta who have not benefited from the government's exploitation of the area. It has responded angrily to the suggestion that it was paid not to attack the pipelines, saying in an e-mail: "MEND will never sell its birthright for a bowl of porridge."
Sri Lanka rejects ceasefire as fighting continues
The Sri Lankan government has rejected a ceasefire with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The two sides have been fighting since the government pulled out of a Norwegian-brokered truce agreement in January. The Tigers offered the ceasefire to coincide with a meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) being held in Sri Lanka later this month. Sri Lanka claims it is winning the war with the LTTE, and has wiped out two-thirds of the rebel's military capabilities, but independent verification of government claims is difficult whilst journalists are banned from the conflict zone.
‘Most active' ETA cell arrested in Spain
Spanish police have arrested nine members of the Basque separatist group ETA and dismantled the "Vizcaya" cell, which they suspect was responsible for most of the bombings carried out by ETA since it called off a ceasefire in June 2007. The arrests represent a considerable blow to the separatist organisation, whose suspected leader, Francisco Javier Lopez Pena, was arrested in France earlier this year.
Roadside bomb injures soldiers in Thailand
A unit of five Thai soldiers was caught in a roadside bomb blast on Wednesday as they patrolled on foot in the south of the country. Two of the soldiers were injured and rushed to hospital. The Muslim insurgency and government response in southern Thailand has claimed more than 3000 lives since 2004, with an escalation in the violence since the September 2006 coup, despite the government's attempts at conciliation. Meanwhile, tensions were still high on the Thai-Cambodia border as talks between the two countries failed. The stand-off, which concerns the ownership of territory on which a temple is built, has now entered its ninth day.
Taliban leadership suffers double blow
A senior Taliban leader in Afghanistan has been killed by NATO forces, only hours after another senior leader was captured by Pakistani security forces. Western officials are hopeful that the arrest signals a change in Pakistan's approach to the Taliban. Pakistani efforts against the Taliban have recently been criticised by the U.S. Some analysts have even suggested the U.S. might be preparing to take unilateral action, in the form of predator drone strikes against Taliban targets in Pakistan.
