LAGOS, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua expressed his welcome to the reported acceptance of his amnesty offer by four leading militant groups in the Niger Delta region.
    According to the Guardian report published Sunday, the president, who did not mention the militants, said their embrace of the amnesty was a sign that peace could be achieved in the Niger Delta to enable the government to focus on the development of the region.
    Representatives of Ateke Tom, Farah Dagogo, Soboma George and Ebikabowei Victor Ben (alia Boyloaf) issued a statement on Friday indicating their acceptance of the amnesty.
    The four factions have links to the main umbrella militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND),which is in reality a loose coalition of armed gangs.
    However, they said they would not surrender their weapons until holding talks with the president to know the actual package of the amnesty and secure the assurances of the president that he was sincere with the gesture.
    "We accept peace as encapsulated in the said offer of amnesty," they said in a joint statement.
    "Depending on the outcome (of the meeting with Yar'Adua), the leaders will then announce when they will begin to hand over the arms and ammunitions in their possession to the Federal Government," the statement added.
    Yar'Adua said Saturday his offer was part of the government determination for peace and security that would enable the administration to focus on the development of the country on the platform of his seven-point agenda.
    He urged other militants to emulate them for the overall peace and development of the Niger Delta.
    The president last Thursday offered a 60-day amnesty (from Aug.6 to Oct. 4) to gunmen in the Niger Delta, who have been responsible for pipeline bombings, attacks on oil and gas installations and the kidnapping of industry workers over the past three years.
    The amnesty proposal could mean that militants suspend a month-old campaign of attacks which have shut down at least 133,000 barrels of oil production per day.
    The unrest has prevented the world's 10th biggest oil producer from pumping nearly half of its capacity of 3 million barrels per day, costing Nigeria billions of dollars in oil revenues.
    Nigeria's chief of staff, Marshal Paul Dike, said the forces would observe a ceasefire and respect all the terms of the amnesty, but he warned that the army would respond, if attacked.
    However, MEND vowed to continue its arms struggle, describing the president's offer of amnesty as bait aimed at destroying the group's agitation for greater autonomy over the oil-rich Niger Delta, the Nation newspaper reported Sunday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/29/content_11616264.htm