Kidnapped oil worker urges Italian govt to act

ROME, Dec 24 (Reuters) One of four foreign oil workers held hostage by Nigerian militants has urged their employer and the Italian government to step up efforts to free them.

In a telephone conversation with the Italian newspaper Manifesto published today, Franco Arena said he wanted ''pressure put on the Italian government and our company so that they obtain our release soon''.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) abducted three Italians and one Lebanese on December 7 from the Brass oil export terminal operated by Agip, part of the ENI group, and has threatened to kill them .

When it carried out the kidnapping on December 7, MEND demanded the release of two jailed leaders from the delta, compensation to villagers for oil pollution, the transfer of control over oil resources from the government to local communities and reparations for 50 years of ''enslavement'' by the oil industry.

ENI said in a statement it was following the situation closely.

REUTERS MQA RN0054