Angry villagers in Nigeria who took over three Shell oil platforms in the volatile Niger Delta have agreed to end their siege and allow operations to resume.

The leader of Nigerian militants who captured four foreign oil workers said today he would not talk with negotiators sent by the government and reiterated threats to launch new attacks on oil installations.

NIGERIAN kidnappers have said their American hostage is gravely ill and threatened to kill three other foreign oil workers held captive if he died.