Lagos - A Nigerian rebel, above, stands guard after a Royal Dutch Shell base was bombed in the state of Bayelsa at the weekend. Attacks by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta have raised the price of oil to a record $122 (£62) a barrel.

The Niger Delta rebels said they would stop attacks on the oil industry if the Nigerian Government would allow Jimmy Carter, the former US President, to act as a mediator in the conflict. The rebels, whose campaign of violence has cut output in the largest African oil producer by about a fifth, asked Mr Carter to act as a negotiator earlier this year. ... Read full article