Nigerian Militants Say Carter Could End Attacks on Oil Companies

May 6, 2008— -- The attacks on U.S. and European oil facilities in Nigeria could end if former U.S. President Jimmy Carter mediates peace talks, the spokesman of a Nigerian militant group said today in an e-mail message to ABC News.

"President Carter represents transparency, impartiality, humility and integrity; four key ingredients critical in the mediator recipe towards ensuring a genuine and enduring peace process for the region," said Jomo Gbomo of the Nigerian rebel group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).

MEND, which claims it is fighting for a more just distribution of the country's billions of dollars of oil revenue, has attacked several pipelines since the start of this year. The group is responsible for kidnapping more than 100 foreign oil workers last year and has repeatedly attacked oil facilities in the Niger Delta region since late 2005.

Carter would "seriously consider" mediating between Nigerian militants and the Nigerian federal government if he was invited by both parties, according to Carter Center Vice President John Stremlau, who was asked by Gbomo in an e-mail if Carter would help facilitate peace talks. "President Carter is a man of peace. He was involved in the Nigerian Delta in 1999 and knows how important it is to resolve this conflict," said Stremlau.

He said Gbomo's statement today, which implied that Carter has already accepted an invitation to mediate in the Niger Delta conflict, was "premature."

"Carter would seriously consider undertaking a mission if he were formally invited by all relevant stakeholders in the Niger Delta conflict. In addition to MEND, this would include the federal government of Nigeria and others whose interests would have to be represented in such a negotiation," said Stremlau. But so far the invitation has come only from MEND.

The group said it will call off all hostilities and hold a temporary cease-fire in honor of Carter should the Nigerian government accept Carter's initiative.

"Now the ball is in the court of the government," said Gbomo.