Boko Haram wants to swap kidnapped girls for jailed members
Darpan News Desk IANS, 09 May, 2014 11:55 AM
Former Boko Haram negotiator, Shehu Sani has said the group plans to exchange the 300 kidnapped schoolgirls for its "comrades" in jails in Nigeria, media reported Friday.
Sani allegedly said that nearly 300 schoolgirls kidnapped last month in the country by Islamist militants could be released in exchange for its jailed comrades, the Nigerian Tribune reported.
He believed the video, in which Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau threatened to sell the girls as slaves, showed he was planning to use them as "bargaining chips".
Sani said he believed the footage, released Monday, was an attempt to persuade the Nigerian government to release the Islamist militant prisoners.
US President Barack Obama Friday called leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Britain, informing them of the US intent to impose fresh sanctions on Russia over its failure to help ease tension in eastern Ukraine, the White House said.
Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf requested the special court that is trying him for high treason Thursday to order the government to provide him with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) report.
Following complaints from the defence ministry and ISI, Pakistan's media regulator has slapped Geo News with a notice asking why its operations should not be shut down.
