ABUJA, July 20 (Reuters) - Nigeria's main militant group in the oil-rich Niger Delta said on Sunday it would intervene to free two German construction workers kidnapped by armed gunmen more than a week ago.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said it had "located and identified the culprits and will begin negotiating with the kidnappers in the hope for a safe and unconditional release of the captives."

Gunmen on July 11 kidnapped the two employees of construction firm Julius Berger <JUBR.LG>, a Nigerian unit of Germany's Bilfinger Berger <GBFG.DE>, near the Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt.

The attack prompted Nigeria's biggest construction firm to pull out of the Niger Delta, the heart of oil production in the world's eighth largest exporter. (Reporting by Randy Fabi; Editing by Jon Boyle)

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