Obama, Carter And Still Another Terrorist Group

It seems that Former President Carter is making quite a name for himself with some less than savory characters lately.  He is rapidly becoming the go-to-guy for terrorists, groups and governments.  North Korea was glad to have him mediate their anti-nuclear talks during the Clinton administration.  Recently, Carter made headlines when, against the Bush administrations wishes, he met with Hamas.  Now, Daniel Flynn of Reuters reports that “the rebel Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta(MEND), who’s campaign of violence helped lift oil prices to a new record on Tuesday, said that Carter  had accepted its offer to mediate in the conflict on the codition that the Nigerian government and any other relevent stake holder invites him.”  “We are ready to call off all hostilities and hold a temporary ceasefire in honor of President Carter should the Nigerian government accept President Carter’s initiative,” MEND said in an emailed statement.

It would be wise of President Carter to consider who he is dealing with before he gets into another fiasco like the one with Hamas.  On www.allafrica.com, Michael Oche wrote, “On Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 2230 hours, commandos from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta sabotaged a major Shell Petroleum Company pipeline at Adamakiri in River State of Nigeria…”

This was followed by still more.  “MEND can confirm that it provided logistic and material support to the group that carried out the warning attack on the Chevron Oil facility in Delta State on Wednesday April 16, 2008.”  ” We have started enlisting men to join the fight that is inevitable, and can assure the oil companies that they are in for a raw deal, as the military is not in the postion to protect them.”

These are not the statements of a group looking to negotiate a peace agreement with former President Carter’s assistance.

In an interview with one of the group’s leaders, who used the alias Major-General Godswill Tamuno, the BBC reported that MEND was fighting for “total control” of the Niger Delta’s oil wealth.

And, meanwhile, MEND has said it is “seriously considering” considering a temporary ceasefire appeal by US Senator Obama.  “Obama is someone we respect and hold in high esteem.”