UPDATE 2-Nigerian parliament urges wider oil delta offensive

(Adds foreign minister's briefing of diplomats para 4-6)

By Camillus Eboh

ABUJA May 22 (Reuters) - Nigeria's lower house of parliament has passed a resolution urging President Umaru Yar'Adua to extend the biggest military operation for years in the Niger Delta into neighbouring states.

The security forces launched a campaign a week ago to dislodge rebel fighters in Delta state, one of three main states in the oil-producing region, bombarding militant camps from the air and sea before sending in hundreds of ground troops.

The army says the offensive is targeting fighters loyal to Government Tompolo, leader of a faction of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), whose "Camp 5" is seen as a focal point of criminal activity.

Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe told diplomats at a briefing in the capital Abuja on Friday that the offensive was aimed at rescuing missing soldiers from the delta's joint military taskforce (JTF) and recovering the bodies of the dead.

"The JTF operations are ... partly a reassurance to the troops and their families that members of the JTF are not mere sitting ducks for the militants and that the Nigerian state is safe for its citizens and foreigners alike," Maduekwe said.

He said militants had killed 33 soldiers since January 2008, while 38 were missing. They had also destroyed five military gunboats and seized three others along with 24 automatic weapons and 579 rounds of army ammunition.

Amnesty International has said it believes hundreds of people may have been killed and thousands displaced since the offensive in Delta state began a week ago.