Nigeria’s president says that amnesty granted to militants has led to peace in oil-rich region

October 8th, 2009 Nigerian militants vow to resume attacks next weekABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria's main militant group vowed to resume attacks after a cease-fire expires next week, while the government said Thursday that more than 8,000 militants had disarmed as part of an amnesty program. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said in a statement that it would no longer limit its attacks to the destruction of pipelines and said that most of those participating in the amnesty program "were rented by the government in the hope that real militants would be persuaded to emerge." "We will fight for our land with the last drop of our blood regardless of how many people the government of Nigeria and the oil companies are successful in bribing," MEND spokesman Jomo Gbomo said.

October 7th, 2009 Key Nigerian militants taking part in amnesty dealABUJA, Nigeria — Key Nigerian militants have agreed to disarm and a government spokeswoman said that is improving the country's oil production. Analysts, though, warned Wednesday that militant attacks could resume after a cease-fire expires next week.

October 4th, 2009 Nigerian militant leader accepts amnesty offerABUJA, Nigeria — A rebel leader in Nigeria's oil-rich Delta said he has accepted a government amnesty offer to disarm. Farah Dagogo, a former commander of the country's main militant group, said that he and other field commanders in Rivers state have surrendered all of their weapons.

September 24th, 2009 Nigeria says truce with delta militants holdingUNITED NATIONS — A two-month-old truce in Nigeria's oil-rich southern Delta region is holding and the militants have accepted an amnesty offer, according to Nigeria's Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe. The unrest has cut Nigeria's oil production by a million barrels a day, allowing Angola to overtake it as Africa's top oil producer.

September 16th, 2009 Nigeria militants extend truce by a monthABUJA, Nigeria — Militants in Nigeria say they are extending a cease-fire that expired overnight by one month, but warn they will resume attacks if the root causes of the conflict are not addressed. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta called a two-month halt to their campaign of attacking oil installations and kidnapping foreigners in July, saying they hoped the truce would help facilitate talks with the government.

September 16th, 2009 Nigeria militants extend truce by 1 monthABUJA, Nigeria — Nigerian militants announced Wednesday they will extend a cease-fire that expired overnight by one month, holding off on attacks on oil installations and kidnapping foreigners, but warned that the government must address the group's grievances. The militants are pressing the government to send federal oil revenues to the impoverished southern Delta region where the oil comes from, and they want the government to withdraw troops and help people return to homes they had fled.

September 11th, 2009 Official: 1,500 Zimbabwe prisoners to be freedHARARE, Zimbabwe — A Zimbabwe official says 1,500 prisoners are being released across the country under a presidential amnesty program designed to ease overcrowding. Elizabeth Banda, manager for Zimbabwe's prisons, says 150 have already been freed from Harare Central Remand Prison, the first of Zimbabwe's 46 prisons to begin the program.

August 31st, 2009 Vietnam grants amnesty to over 5,000 prisonersHANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam will release more than 5,000 prisoners as part of an annual prison amnesty, but not a Catholic priest whom U.S. senators have campaigned to have freed, an official said Monday.

August 6th, 2009 Nigeria begins 2-month amnesty for oil militantsABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria began a 60-day amnesty Thursday for militants fighting in the country's oil-rich Delta region, a government official said, but the main militant group said it would not participate. Security agencies estimate there are 8,000 to 11,000 fighters in the creeks but it is not clear how many will disarm, said Timiebi Koripamo-Agari, a spokeswoman for the government amnesty committee.

August 5th, 2009 Nigeria's amnesty program begins in restive southABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria's government says a program to offer amnesty to militants in the country's restive southern oil region has begun. The program, first announced in June, formally got under way Wednesday.

July 17th, 2009 Nigerian amnesty could affect 10,000 militantsABUJA, Nigeria — As many as 10,000 militants who have sabotaged oil production in Nigeria's restive Niger Delta could take advantage of an amnesty deal offered last month, an official said Friday. Air Vice Marshal Lucky Ararile said the government will give about $290 to each fighter who turns himself in for a two-month reintegration program.

July 15th, 2009 Nigerian rebels call truce, fear troop movementsABUJA, Nigeria — Nigerian militants called a halt Wednesday to their campaign of attacking oil installations and kidnapping foreigners, then said military gunboats and troops were heading toward a rebel camp in a move that could upend the deal. The military quickly denied the allegation, saying it had no plans to attack rebels from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the country's main militant group.

July 15th, 2009 Nigerian oil militants call 60-day cease-fireABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria's main militant group said Wednesday it is calling an immediate 60-day cease-fire in response to the government's release of an ailing rebel leader. Henry Okah was freed Monday just hours after the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta set fire to an oil depot and loading tankers in the country's economic center, Lagos.

February 23rd, 2009 MINGORA - Suspected Taliban militants Sunday abducted a top government administrator and six guards in Pakistan's Swat Valley, officials said. District administrator Khushal Khan was going in his car to Mingora, the main town of Swat, when he was abducted by the suspected militants, The News reported.

February 22nd, 2009 LONDON - Actor George Clooney has been granted a private meeting with US President Barack Obama later this week to discuss the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan. Clooney, a United Nations messenger of peace, will ask Obama to help end a long and bloody conflict which is thought to have killed millions of innocent refugees, reports contactmusic.com.