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Kidnapped Foreigners Warn Against Rescue Attempts
Lagos, 17 Jan. (AKI) - Four foreign oil workers kidnapped in Nigeria six days ago have read out their captors' demands to the Reuters newsagency by telephone and have warned against any attempt to rescue them. The four hostages - an American, a Briton, a Bulgarian and a Honduran - said, in what Reuters said appeared to be prepared statements, that they were being treated well, but that any military intervention or rescue operation could cost them their lives.The kidnappers have staged a series of attacks on oil pipelines, platforms and workers over the past three weeks, denting supply from the world's eighth-largest exporter and driving up world prices. The violence has prompted Royal Dutch Shell to evacuate 330 workers from four of its oil platforms in Nigeria. The company is considering more withdrawals amid uncertainty over where the militants will strike next, a senior oil industry source told Reuters. Two attacks last week hit Nigeria's oil output by 226,000 barrels a day and analysts say that if production continues to be disrupted it could push up world oil prices. The hostage-takers have demand local control of the Niger Delta's oil wealth, payment of 1,5-billion dollars by Royal Dutch Shell to the Bayelsa state government to compansate for pollution, and the release of three men including two ethnic Ijaw leaders, one of the hostages told Reuters over the phone. Posted by: Steve 2006-01-17 |
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