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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Explosions rock site of amnesty talks in Nigeria |
| 2010-03-16 |
| Two bomb explosions rock Nigeria's southern oil-rich city of Warri just outside the site of talks over granting amnesty to militants in the area. The blasts took place minutes after a bomb threat issued by the region's main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). According to eye witnesses, two car bombs went off minutes apart from each other outside the state governor's office, prompting the delegates to run for their lives. One person was killed, police said. MEND said the explosions were meant to "announce our continued presence" and warned of renewed attacks against the oil industry in the coming days, threatening firms such as French energy giant Total that have so far avoided significant strikes on their infrastructure. Government officials had gathered at the place to discuss the implementation of an amnesty program brokered last year. Several armed groups recently agreed to the terms of the amnesty program, but some MEND leaders rejected the government's offer. The blasts were a major setback for Nigeria's acting President Goodluck Jonathan as his government is trying to calm ethnic tensions in the center of the country. Armed groups have for years caused havoc in the oil-rich Niger Delta by carrying out a wave of assaults on oil installations. They complain that despite vast oil output in the area, the region has remained poor and undeveloped. |
| Posted by:Fred |