By Tume Ahema
LAGOS (Reuters) - A rebel group from Nigeria'soil-producing Niger Delta said it attacked two major oilpipelines there on Monday in what it called a message to theUnited States to stop supporting "injustice" in the troubledregion.
A similar strike on a pipeline last Thursday forced RoyalDutch Shell to shut 169,000 barrels per day of Bonny Lightcrude oil production for repair works and to declare forcemajeure on Bonny Light exports for April and May.
In an email sent to Reuters, a faction of the Movement forthe Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said its commandoshad carried out attacks against two more pipelines on Mondaylocated at Isaka River and Abonnema River in Rivers State.
"Today's attacks ... dispel the false impression that peaceand security have been restored in order to gain the confidenceof potential investors in the oil and gas sector," MEND said.
It said the pipelines targeted on Monday could belong toShell and U.S. major Chevron Corp, but there was no immediateconfirmation of this from the companies mentioned, or from anyindependent sources.
Addressing U.S. President George W. Bush, the rebel groupsaid the attacks were "our way of saying 'welcome'" to a U.S.warship, the high-speed vessel Swift, which has been visitingthe Gulf of Guinea to conduct training with the Nigerian navy.
"Mr President, your warships do not intimidate us. Insteadthey only embolden our resolve in fighting the Goliaths of theworld that support injustice," the MEND statement said.
MAJOR U.S. SUPPLIER
Nigeria is the fifth largest supplier of oil to the UnitedStates, which has cultivated good relations with the governmentof President Umaru Yar'Adua.
"The ripple effect of this attack will touch your economyand people one way or the other and (we) hope we now have yourattention," MEND said.
It complained that Bush had not responded to past requestsfrom it to mediate talks with the Nigerian government.
The U.S. government criticised the disputed Nigerianelections that brought Yar'Adua to power last year, but hassince engaged with him. MEND said the U.S. government knew theelection had been fraudulent but had "looked the other way".
It said it was still ready to hold peace talks, but wouldnow prefer former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to act asmediator, instead of Bush.
Niger Delta militants often make appeals to theinternational community but Nigeria has treated the unrest inthe delta as an internal matter and so far there have been nointernational mediators involved in negotiations.
MEND is one of several armed groups who say they arefighting to redress injustice in the impoverished region, wherefive decades of oil extraction have polluted the land andwater, and enriched corrupt politicians.
But crime and militancy are intertwined in the Delta andsuch groups make big profits from kidnappings for ransom, froma lucrative trade in stolen oil or from providingthugs-for-hire to politicians who use them to steal elections.
(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say onthe top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)
(Writing by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Nick Tattersall andRichard Meares)