LAGOS, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The main rebel group in Nigeria's oil-producing southern delta, announcing a brief Christmas ceasefire, pledged on Saturday not to attack oil facilities or kidnap foreigners on Christmas Day.

The faction of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) was involved in a series of attacks on the oil industry in early 2006 that shut down a fifth of Nigerian output, contributing to a rise in international oil prices.

"Effective 12 midnight, December 25, 2007 ... MEND will observe a 24 hour ceasefire in the spirit of Christmas," a spokesman for the faction which is allied to rebel leader Henry Okah, held on gun-running charges in Angola, said in a statement emailed to journalists.

"Cessation of hostilities and kidnapping of oil expatriates can be guaranteed during this time-frame," the statement said.

The ceasefire is significant because the faction had urged rebels groups on Monday to unite in order to cripple the oil industry and endorsed a call by an influential rebel leader to pull out of peace talks with the government.

MEND is a loose organisation of militia groups based in the Niger Delta, which produces about 2.1 million barrels of oil per day. The Okah faction, like others in the impoverished delta, suspended attacks after a new government took office in May promising to address the crisis in the oil heartland.

But they stepped up attacks after Okah's arrest on suspicion of gun-running in September and his allies in the MEND have resumed attacks since then. They raided an ExxonMobil <XOM.N> export terminal on Nov. 12, seizing weapons from the guards.

Gunmen attacked an oil industry barge, a jetty and a government building on Wedenesday, briefly capturing 18 Filipino crew and fighting with troops.

Several armed groups in the delta demand greater local access to oil revenues, an end to what they see as neglect of their impoverished communities, compensation from oil companies for oil spills and gas flares, and greater political autonomy.

The groups sabotaged pipelines and oil wells and kidnapped foreign oil workers to press their demands. But the line between crime and militancy is blurred in the delta, where armed groups make big money from ransoms, smuggling stolen crude and arms trafficking, often with the complicity of corrupt government officials.

President Umaru Yar'Adua took power on May 29 promising to address the root causes of the crisis in the delta and began talks with rebel groups. However, several influential rebel leaders have said in the past few weeks that they doubt the government's sincerity and say the talks are going nowhere. (Reporting by Tume Ahemba; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

AlertNet news is provided by