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03/10/2006:

"Nigeria militants report fight with army"

LAGOS, Nigeria - A Nigerian militant group holding three foreign oil workers hostage said its fighters clashed Wednesday with army troops in this West African nation's oil-rich delta region.

The militants said in an e-mailed statement that one of their vessels was attacked on the Escravos River by four Nigerian navy patrol boats, sparking a 45-minute gunbattle they claimed left seven government soldiers dead.

The reported skirmish could not be independently confirmed and military officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

"The Nigerian government and military should note that we have sufficient firepower in that vicinity to repel any attack," the militants said.

Ethnic Ijaw militants took nine foreign oil workers hostage Feb. 18 and released six of them last week. The remaining three include two Americans and a Briton.

The militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta claims to be fighting to win a greater share of oil wealth on behalf of the Niger Delta's impoverished inhabitants, who have remained poor despite the fact that most of Nigeria's oil is being pumped from the swampy region. The government characterizes the militants as criminals and oil thieves.
thestate.com