Nigeria militant trial goes on despite amnesty offer

JOS, Nigeria (Reuters) - The trial of top Nigerian oil militant Henry Okah for gun-running and treason continued on Friday despite President Umaru Yar'Adua's order that a top government official meet with him and offer him amnesty.

Yar'Adua last week offered a 60-day amnesty to gunmen in the Niger Delta, including Okah, who have been responsible for pipeline bombings, attacks on oil and gas facilities and the abduction of industry workers over the past three years.

The president on Monday asked Interior Minister Godwin Abbe, who heads the presidential committee on amnesty, to immediately arrange a meeting with Okah and formally offer him clemency, raising hopes among his supporters that the trial would end.

Nigeria's director of public prosecutions, Salihu Aliyu, told the court in the central city of Jos that amnesty would be offered to Okah if he was prepared to meet the government's conditions, which include renouncing violent struggle.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which has launched a string of attacks against the oil industry this month, has made Okah's release one of its key demands.

Okah's lawyer Femi Falana repeated an appeal that his client, who is said to be suffering from a kidney ailment, be taken abroad for treatment or released to his family.

The case was adjourned to July 17.