Word: fors
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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A solution looked possible because Nigeria's government was finally conceding that the rebels' demands - increased development and the environmental repair of the delta - were justified. "The militants are not asking for anything unusual or extraordinary," Defense Minister Godwin Abbe told TIME at his offices in the capital Abuja earlier...
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...
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...