Two kidnapped Italians freed in Nigeria

LAGOS, Feb 26 (Reuters) Two Italians kidnapped on Friday in Nigeria's oil city Port Harcourt have been released, Italy's Foreign Ministry said today.

The ministry did not offer details. Italians Lucio Moro and Luciano Passarin had been working for construction company Impregilo, when they were grabbed by gunmen.

Rome recommended last week that Italian nationals leave the Niger Delta, Africa's largest oil producing region where kidnappings and attacks on oil facilities are on the rise.

Police in the southern delta state of Rivers said they had no information on the release of the pair.

At least eight foreigners are still being held by different armed groups in the delta, including two Italian employees of oil company ENI, who were abducted by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) on December 7.

A Lebanese who was kidnapped by MEND regained his freedom on Wednesday after 11 weeks. The Italian Foreign Ministry said it did not believe the group was involved in last Friday's abductions.

Rising violence against foreigners in the world's sixth largest crude exporter has prompted thousands of oil workers to leave the delta, a vast maze of mangrove-lined creeks and swamps.

Militants say they are fighting for a greater control of the impoverished region's oil wealth, freedom for two jailed leaders and compensation to delta villages for decades of pollution.

The violent attacks have cut Nigeria's exports by a fifth since February last year. The militants want all foreigners to leave the area and have vowed to halt oil exports to force the central government to renegotiate the terms of the delta's union with the rest of Nigeria.

Poverty and a lack of basic public services due to corruption in government fuel militancy and crime in the lawless region almost the size of England.

MEND's emergence in late 2005 has brought a new sophistication and ferocity to a decades-long struggle by militants.

Its attacks have triggered a wave of copy-cat kidnappings for ransom around Port Harcourt, and rising political tensions ahead of landmark elections in April have contributed to the chaos.

REUTERS SBA RN0242