Rebel claims peace agreement in Nigeria dispute

A Nigerian rebel leader claimed tonight he had reached a peace deal that would bring an end to fighting in the oil rich south that has helped push up world fuel prices.

Moujahid Dokubo-Asari, who heads the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, said he agreed to a peace deal with President Olusegun Obasanjo to end fighting in Africa’s leading oil exporter.

“The president has given an express understanding that no troops will attack our people. And as along as they don’t attack, we won’t attack,” he said.

Dukubo-Asari, who claims direct control of 2,000 ethnic Ijaw fighters and the loyalty of tens of thousands more, threatened on Tuesday to widen his campaign to control of the nation’s southern Niger Delta region.

His threats to target foreign oil firms and their international workers starting on Friday – Nigeria’s 44th anniversary of independence from Britain - helped send crude-oil prices to historic highs of more than $50 dollars a barrel in global markets.