U.S. Hostage Speaks to Journalists in Nigeria
WARRI, Nigeria — Heavily armed masked militants Friday showed off a 68-year-old American hostage who appealed for international help to secure his release.
Macon Hawkins of Kosciusko, Texas, said he would turn 69 on Wednesday and wanted freedom for his birthday. The 15-minute encounter took place on a river with the militants in five boats and journalists in two.
The militants, who say they seek a greater share of the country’s oil wealth for their impoverished region, seized Hawkins and eight other foreign oil workers Feb. 18 from a barge in the Niger Delta’s mangrove swamps.
Hawkins seemed upbeat despite being surrounded by men with Kalashnikov automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and tripod-mounted machine guns. He joked with journalists about conditions in captivity.
He repeated the militants’ demands that third parties such as the United Nations or President Bush get involved in negotiating the release of the hostages, who include two other Americans, two Egyptians, two Thais, one Briton and one Filipino.
The militants have said they don’t trust Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
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