REUTERS: LAGOS — Rebels who have stepped up attacks on Nigeria’s oil industry in the last month said on Sunday they were considering a ceasefire appeal by U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has launched five attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta since it resumed a campaign of violence in April, forcing Royal Dutch Shell to shut more than 164,000 barrels of oil per
day (bpd). “The MEND command is seriously considering a temporary ceasefire appeal by Senator Barack Obama. Obama is someone we respect and hold in high esteem,” the militant group said in an e-mailed statement. MORE
POLITICO: But an Obama aide said this morning that Obama had not made such a call before today. “Senator Obama has not commented recently on the situation in the Niger Delta region,” said the aide, who spoke on the condition he not be named. Susan Rice, a senior foreign policy advisor to Obama, also this morning released a statement calling for peace in the Delta. “Senator Obama does urge an end to the violence in the Delta region and encourages all parties to establish a process for addressing the relevant issues and grievances in order to create the conditions for peace and economic development,” she said. MORE
THE ONION: John McCain Is One Tough SOB