EQUIPO NIZKOR |
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13Jul04
US for navy deployment to secure oil-rich Gulf of Guinea.
A top US military commander has said his country is willing to cooperate with Nigeria in monitoring the waters of the Gulf of Guinea to secure an alternative source of oil to the Middle East, Xinhua reports.
"I think it is a hugely important issue to Nigeria as well as other countries in the Gulf of Guinea," the Guardian newspaper quoted Gen. Charles Wald, deputy commander of the US military's command for Europe and Africa, as saying Tuesday.
Wald held talks Monday with Nigerian military officials, including Nigerian Minister of State for Defence Rowland Oritsejafor and service chiefs, in the capital Abuja.
"It is up to the political leadership to decide if it is in their common interest to protect the area. If they do, we will firmly support that," he said, referring to the deployment of US naval forces in the region that holds as much as 10 percent of the world's oil reserves.
Monday's meeting held in the Abuja residence of the US ambassador to Nigeria was also the first time both countries met to discuss the US government's deployment of its navy in the Gulf of Guinea, the newspaper said.
Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, is also the world's sixth largest oil exporter and the fifth-biggest source of US oil imports.
However, the US wants more oil from Nigeria and other African countries in the Gulf of Guinea, which has been plagued by pirates, smugglers and criminals.
In Nigeria's oil-producing Niger delta region, violence kills about 1,000 people a year, forcing the West African country to lose over 160,000 barrels a day.
Wald said Nigeria is "one of the most important countries" to the US, which would help Nigeria "solve its security problems".
"We would like to have more cooperation with Nigeria. We think it is crucial for both of us," he noted.
Wald also said the US was looking forward to expanding training and helping equip regional groups in Africa "to support African leaders in regional peacekeeping".
[Source: New Kerala, India, 13Jul04]
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