[adnkronos.com] Italy’s foreign minister Franco Frattini on Tuesday pledged to send two
boats to help patrol the Niger Delta in Nigeria, where troops are
battling militants known for targeting foreign-owned petroleum
companies. Armed attacks by rebels from the Movement for the Emancipation of
the Niger Delta, including kidnappings and the hijacking of vessels,
have cut Nigeria’s crude oil exports by more than 20 percent since
2006.
The Italian patrol boats will come from the fleet of the country’s tax police and will not include crews, Frattini said.
Frattini told journalists about the decision to send the vessels
during a visit to the Angolan capital, Luanda, shortly before he flew
to Nigeria on the second leg of a five-day trip to Africa. The visit
will also take him to Sierra Leone and Senegal.
Nigeria is Africa’s leading oil producer and the fifth-biggest source of oil imports to the United States.
Frattini’s trip, which began in Angola on Monday, is aimed at
boosting Italy’s economic ties with several African countries and
increasing Italian business there.
According to Radio Netherlands, MEND rebels claimed responsibility
for an attack on a gas plant belonging to the Anglo-Dutch oil giant
Shell last week.
MEND said the attack took place in Utorogu in the oil-rich Niger Delta in the south of the country.
However, the Nigerian military said it repelled the attack, killing
three rebels. One Nigerian soldier and two Shell employees were wounded.
MEND ended a five-month ceasefire just over a week ago in response to an army attack on its fighters.
Source: http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Business/?id=3.0.3000218725
