But critics believe Mr.Yar'Adua has moved too slowly on reforms and that key changes are not expected before the 2011 elections.

VOA: standard.2009.08.22

But MEND has been severely weakened since dozens of its field commanders and thousands of gunmen accepted President Yar'Adua's amnesty offer and disarmed.

VOA: standard.2009.12.21

But the process has been stalled by Mr.Yar'Adua's absence from Nigeria in the past few weeks.

VOA: standard.2009.12.21

Pavarotti was married to his first wife Adua, with whom he had three daughters, for 35 years until they split in 1996.

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In 2009, then-Nigerian President Musa Yar Adua granted an amnesty to thousands of militants wreaking havoc in the oil-rich Niger Delta in the south.

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"It's just a mark of appreciation from the good people of Nigeria, " Yar'Adua said during a state reception in the country's capital Abuja on Saturday.

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