LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's main militant group said on Wednesday it may release a British oil worker held hostage in the Niger Delta for more than eight months after what it said were comments favourable to its cause by a British diplomat.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said comments by British High Commissioner Bob Dewar during a meeting with the information minister had "flicked on a switch of hope for an early release" of Matthew John Maguire.
"The envoy noted to our satisfaction the injustice and criminality by successive and the current governments which we are fighting to change," MEND said in an emailed statement.
Maguire has been held captive in the creeks of the Niger Delta, home to Africa's biggest oil and gas industry, since September 9. MEND released another Briton seized with him, Robin Barry Hughes, last month because of his ill-health.
Hundreds of foreigners have been taken in the delta since MEND launched a campaign of violence in early 2006 to push for what it considers to be a fairer share of the profits from crude oil extraction. Most are freed unharmed after a few weeks.
The militants had threatened to keep the two Britons until Nigerian authorities free one of their leaders, Henry Okah, who is on trial for treason and gun-running.
Okah's trial resumes on Friday.
(Reporting by Nick Tattersall)