ABUJA, June 14 (Reuters) - A Nigerian court freed on bail former militia leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari on Thursday, meeting a demand by armed groups who have disrupted oil production and kidnapped expatriate workers in the Niger Delta.

Following are key facts about Asari, 43.

* A Muslim convert and a member of the royal family in the traditional Kalabari Kingdom in oil-producing Rivers state, Asari rose to prominence in the Ijaw Youth Council which promotes the rights of the majority ethnic group in the Niger Delta.

* He set up his own militia, the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force, in 2002-2003 with support from then Rivers state governor Peter Odili. He later fell out with Odili, who sponsored a rival militia leader, Ateke Tom, to fight Asari.

* In late 2004, Asari's militia fought gun battles against Ateke Tom and Nigerian security forces from remote jungle camps. His threat to wage "all-out war on the Nigerian state" drove oil prices above $50 per barrel for the first time.

* Asari cut a deal with then president Olusegun Obasanjo in late 2004 to lay down arms in exchange for amnesty. He retreated to a guarded villa in Rivers state capital Port Harcourt, where oil industry sources said he ran a lucrative protection racket.

* Since his arrest in September 2005, Asari has regained prestige in the eyes of many Niger Delta militants, who have escalated violence and disrupted oil production. Asari's trial has dragged on from one adjournment to the next without tackling a substantive issue and he has complained of ill-treatment by the State Security Services, who are detaining him.

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