Rebel leader's release raises hope for Nigerian stability

LAGOS: Nigerian rebel leader Henry Okah has agreed to the terms of a government amnesty program and his lawyers said they would meet President Umaru Yar'Adua to discuss a timetable for his release.

The release of Okah, suspected leader of Nigeria's most prominent militant group, would raise hopes some rebels would lay down their arms and halt an offensive in the Niger Delta, heartland of Africa's biggest oil and gas sector.

The deal is a sharp turnaround from the situation two weeks ago, when militants in the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) seemed to ignore the amnesty offer and launched a new attack on facilities owned by oil multinational Shell. The company's Forcados offshore platform in Delta State was destroyed. It was the 11th attack on Nigeria's oil infrastructure in less than a month.