The Movement For the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, which had earlier claimed to have located the kidnapped Isreali businessman, Mr. Ehud Evni, in Port Harcourt, and the militants holding him, has declined to assist in rescuing him.

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MEND said it reneged on its earlier promise to assist in rescuing the man because it claimed an Isreali news media, Arutz Sheva ,  called it a terrorist organization.

However, Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State, whose government is really embarrassed by the kidnap on the night that the Isreali ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Moshe Ram, and delegation were hosted to a dinner, has directed security agents in the state to comb the region, creeks and camps and fish out Avni at all costs.

In an a online statement endorsed by Jomo Gbomo, MEND’s spokesman, the group said: “Yesterday (Wednesday), August 27, 2008, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) offered to assist in the search and rescue of the Israeli hostage, Mr. Ehud Avni, if requested to do so by the government of Israel through its ambassador.”

According to the group, “That offer has been suspended until the Israel National News ( Arutz Sheva ) rescinds its description of MEND as a terrorist group and offer an apology in the next publication. It seems the newspaper is confused about the definition of terrorists .

“If the founding fathers of Israel were not described as terrorists when they fought to liberate their people and bring hope and a future from the concentration camps, then we take very strong objections to that description for fighting to emancipate the Niger Delta from five decades of injustice and neglect.”

MEND further said that “Mr Avni has been located and seems to be a diabetic patient. MEND will only plead with his captors to be humane, but will not intervene to allow the security operatives earn their pay by finding and negotiating his release.”

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