Word: ands
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
As the New Year approaches, however, hopes for peace are evaporating fast, largely because of two factors. First, the main drivers in the government toward negotiating a truce with the rebels have been out of action for weeks. Yar'Adua, a chain smoker with chronic health problems, has been in...
Disunity among the rebels is the second reason for pessimism. In the last few years, most of the militants have operated as part of a loose alliance called the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), led by a former businessman named Henry Okah. Then, in September 2007...
The extent of the split became apparent this weekend. Following warnings by Okah that the peace process was faltering, MEND rebels launched a "warning strike" on Saturday, with 35 militants attacking a pipeline jointly owned by Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. "While wishing...
But within hours, Mack Anthony, commander of a MEND faction now opposed to Okah, condemned the attack. "We want to state categorically that the attack was carried out by enemies of the Niger Delta," said Anthony. "We are aware that the negotiation process is slow. [But] we are in an...
Such divisions can only harm the prospects for peace. Even more depressingly, the one thing on which Anthony and Okah seem to agree is that the future looks grim. In an interview with TIME this month, Anthony said he was "quite pessimistic" about the chances of forging a lasting peace...