Nigeria's main militant group declared an indefinite cease-fire Oct. 25, raising the prospect of peace in the oil-rich Delta region after nearly three years of hostilities have crippled production.

While the group has declared cease-fires before, this indefinite truce has greater significance as it comes soon after several high-profile militant commanders agreed to take part in a government amnesty to disarm.

On Oct. 19, Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua met with longtime militant leader Henry Okah, a move the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said led to its to decision to declare the latest cease-fire.

The attacks from MEND and unrest in the Niger Delta region had cut Nigeria's oil production by about a million barrels a day, allowing Angola to overtake it as Africa's top oil producer.