  |
|
Italy's ENI, Obasanjo rule out force to free hostages in Nigeria
AFP
ROME
Petroleumworld.com 12 28 06The chief executive officer of Italian energy group ENI and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo agreed Wednesday that no armed action would be attempted to free four hostages working for ENI subsidiary Agip.
Paolo Scaroni, in a "long and friendly" meeting in Lagos with the Nigerian leader, "confirmed and supported the choice of the Nigerian authorities of proceeding with the negotiations ... avoiding any kind of military intervention," ENI said in a statement from Milan.
"On this point, President Obasanjo reassured ENI on the will of the Nigerian government to continue negotiations" to free the three Italians and a Lebanese national who were kidnapped in southern Nigeria's Delta State on December 7.
The Nigerian leader was "deeply convinced of an incoming positive solution," said ENI, which employs some 1,260 people in Nigeria.
The two also discussed "themes like the security of workers, industrial plants for hydrocarbon extraction and power plants for the African country," the statement said.
The separatist Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) kidnapped the four during an attack on an oil installation owned by Agip at Brass in Nigeria's Bayelsa State.
The movement has said it will not accept a ransom to free the four, but instead demands that Nigerian authorities free former Bayelsa State governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, jailed on corruption charges, as well as separatist leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari and other detainees from the Niger Delta.
The MEND is demanding a larger share for southern Nigerians in oil revenues, which account for almost all the country's foreign exchange income, and compensation for communities affected by oil pollution.Scaroni also "expressed his deepest condolences" over the oil pipeline fire in northern Lagos on Tuesday that claimed at least 269 lives. The ENI chief visited victims at Lagos University Hospital and pledged medical assistance for "the most difficult cases," the ENI statement said.
AFP 27 1418 GMT 12 06
Copyright© 2001 AFP All Rights Reserved.
Your
feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.
Write to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any
question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.com
Best
Viewed with IE
5.01+
Windows
NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels