Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo explained Friday why the government will not use force to rescue the three foreign oil workers, who were kidnapped about a month ago by militants in the southern oil-rich Niger Delta.

"We have to show restraint, even if this portrays government as weak," the president said in a statement. "If we choose to use force, lives will definitely be lost."

Malcolm Brinded, executive director of Exploration and Production of Shell International told the president that "It is normal for us to be concerned about our staff, and we are encouraged by your efforts to free them."

Heavily armed militants belonging to the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) seized nine foreign oil workers from a vessel laying a pipeline for Shell on February 18. Six of them, however, were later freed.

The militants are insisting on the demilitarization of the delta as a condition for the release of the three remaining. They also vowed not to compromise on its demands for the release of two ethnic Ijaw leaders, payment of 1.5-billion-U.S. dollar compensation to Ijaw communities affected by Shell spillages.

On Wednesday, they also threatened to launch their long-delayed attacks on oil facilities that had cut daily oil output in Africa's largest crude exporter by 556,000 barrels, or a quarter.

The Niger Delta produces most of the country's oil. The government and oil companies, however, have been in a long- standing dispute with 20-million-strong impoverished locals, who accuse them of failing to develop their region.

Source: Xinhua