Nigerian militants who have kidnapped nine foreign oil workers and forced a sharp cutback in the country's oil exports threatened on Sunday to blow up oil tankers according to Reuters. "We are not just going to fire rockets. We intend to destroy any export tanker we are able to reach," the militants said in an email to Reuters. The militants of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, where all of Nigeria's oil is located, have pledged to halt Nigerian oil exports completely in a campaign to secure more control over the region's wealth. The group kidnapped nine foreign oil workers on Saturday, forcing a 20 percent cutback in shipments from the world's eighth largest oil exporter. It said it could further cut exports by destroying shipping. "That can easily be achieved by setting the engine room and accommodation space on fire. As long as the integrity of the storage tanks has been compromised, whatever stored products will serve as fuel to ensure a complete destruction," the group said in its email. The government says the militant movement is a cover for thieves siphoning crude oil on a commercial scale from pipelines across the vast wetlands region. The militants deny this. They have demanded the release of two ethnic Ijaw leaders -- an impeached state governor on trial for money laundering and a militia leader charged with treason -- and more local control over the Niger Delta's vast oil resources. --more 23 20 Local Time 20 20 GMT
