ABUJA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - A long-awaited Nigerian peace summit meant to end violence in the oil-producing Niger Delta has been cancelled, but the government remains committed to dialogue, Oil Minister Odein Ajumogobia said on Wednesday. President Umaru Yar'Adua promised last year that a peace summit would take place to address the root causes of unrest in the delta, where armed rebels demanding local control over oil resources have crippled Africa's biggest oil industry. Plans for the summit between the government and militants fell into disarray after a key mediator organising the talks resigned in July and the meeting has since slipped from the public agenda. "I believe that it is public knowledge that the Niger Delta summit was cancelled. It would have taken place a week ago," Ajumogobia told reporters after a cabinet meeting in Abuja. The bombing of pipelines and kidnapping of oil workers in the delta, whose oil output makes Nigeria the world's eighth biggest exporter, have cut production by a fifth since early 2006, putting upward pressure on volatile world oil prices. The government said in July it would set up a committee of Niger Delta leaders to make recommendations on how to end the violence as a prelude to talks. It gave the group no deadline. Yar'Adua took office in May 2007, pledging respect for the rule of law and was seen as a breath of fresh air after eight years of rule by ex-military ruler Olusegun Obasanjo. But his critics say his ponderous style of leadership -- which has earned him the nickname "Baba Go-Slow" -- means economic reforms are grinding to a halt and progress on issues including the Niger Delta is painfully slow. "Everyone agrees that the Niger Delta requires substantial infrastructure ... (but) you need to define it and break it down into specific roads, bridges and so on," Ajumogobia said. "Everyone accepts that there needs to be an intervention on a massive scale. People have called it a Marshall Plan, the president is committed to it, but committed to what precisely, in terms of specifics, that is where we are now," he said. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ ) (Reporting by Felix Onuah; writing by Nick Tattersall; editing by Tim Pearce)
U.N. peacekeepers from Nigeria stand guard during a demonstration by supporters of Haiti's former president Jean Bertrand Aristide, demanding his return, in front of the National palace in Port-au-Prince July 15, ...
