Nigeria kidnapped girls 'shown in Boko Haram video'

Islamist militants Boko Haram have released a video apparently showing about 130 girls kidnapped from a school in northern Nigeria on 14 April.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said the children would be held until all imprisoned militants had been freed.

Interior Minister Abba Moro rejected the deal, telling the BBC that it was 'absurd' for a 'terrorist group' to try to set conditions.

Boko Haram abducted more than 200 girls and threatened to sell them.

Analysis

It will come as a relief for the parents to see at least some of the kidnapped girls alive. The video shows 136 girls sitting on the floor, wearing hijabs and repeatedly citing the first verse of Koran, followed by the words: 'Allah is the only God who should be worshipped and the Prophet Muhammad is the only messenger.' This is a pronouncement of their conversion to Islam.

The Boko Haram leader later says they have become 'sisters of the militants' following their conversion. Next he goes on to say he may consider swapping the girls for imprisoned militants. But his tone suggests this may only be for those girls who have not converted.

The interior minister has said 'terrorists' cannot set conditions, but the government is likely to come under pressure to bow to the militants' demands to see at least some girls released.

The BBC's John Simpson in the northern city of Maiduguri says Boko Haram's comments show signs that the group is willing to negotiate.

Three of the girls - wearing full-length cloaks - are shown speaking in the 27-minute video, obtained by French news agency AFP.

Two girls say they were Christian and have converted to Islam, while the other says she is Muslim.

'These girls, these girls you occupy yourselves with... we have indeed liberated them. These girls have become Muslims,' Abubakar Shekau says in the video.

It is thought the majority of the abducted girls are Christians, although there are a number of Muslims among them.

Correspondents said the girls appeared calm and one said that they had not been harmed.

There is no indication of when or where the video was taken, although the location appears to be rural.

It is estimated to show about 130 girls - just under half of the 276 pupils abducted from their school in the northern state of Borno.

Our correspondent says this could mean those abducted had been split into smaller groups to help avoid detection.

Boko Haram Founded in 2002, name means 'Western education is forbidden' in the Hausa language Launched violent struggle in 2009, ostensibly to create Islamic state Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria - also attacked police and UN headquarters in Abuja Three million people affected Declared terrorist group by US in 2013

Boko Haram had previously admitted to kidnapping the girls.

The group, whose name means 'Western education is forbidden,' said they should not have been at school and should get married instead.

Boko Haram has been engaged in a violent campaign against the Nigerian government since 2009.

Earlier, the governor of Nigeria's Borno state said he had information on the whereabouts of the schoolgirls.

Governor Kashim Shettima said he had passed reports of the sightings of the girls to the military for verification.

He added that he did not think the girls had been taken across the border to Chad or Cameroon.

The Nigerian government has faced heavy criticism of its response to the mass abduction but President Goodluck Jonathan said on Sunday that assistance from abroad had made him optimistic of finding the girls.

The UK and US already have teams helping on the ground in Nigeria and an Israeli counter-terrorism team is also on its way to the country.

Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande has offered to host a summit in Paris next Saturday with Nigeria and its neighbours focused on Boko Haram and the country's security challenges.

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