The group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, said the girls would not be released until its prisoners are freed [AFP]
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Boko Haram has released a new video claiming to show
the missing Nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted last month, alleging
they had converted to Islam and would not be released until all of its
prisoners held by Nigeria were freed.
In the video, obtained by the AFP news agency on Monday, Abubakar
Shekau, the group's leader, is shown speaking for 17 minutes before
showing what he said were about 130 of the girls, wearing full-length
abayas and praying in an undisclosed rural location.
Nearly 300 girls were abducted on April 14 from the northeastern town
of Chibok, in Borno state, which has a sizeable Christian community.
Fifty-three girls managed to escape.
Three of the girls in Monday's video are interviewed in the
recording. Two say they were Christian and had converted while one said
she was Muslim.
The girls appeared calm and one said that they had not been harmed.
There was no indication of when the video was taken, although the
quality is better than on previous Boko Haram videos and at one point an
armed man is seen in shot with a hand-held video camera.
Boko Haram has been waging an increasingly deadly insurgency in
Nigeria's mainly Muslim north since 2009, attacking schools teaching a
"Western" curriculum, churches and government targets.
Civilians have borne the brunt of recent violence, with more than
1,500 killed this year alone, while tens of thousands have been
displaced after their homes and businesses were razed.
International help
Nigeria's government has been criticised for its lack of immediate
response to the kidnapping but has been forced to act after Shekau
threatened to sell the girls as slaves.
President Goodluck Jonathan has accepted help from the United States,
Britain, France, China and Israel, which have sent specialist teams to
help in the search effort.
In the video, Shekau appears in front of a lime green canvas backdrop
wearing combat fatigues and carrying an automatic weapon. He does not
appear in the same shot as the girls at any point.
Speaking in Hausa and Arabic, he restates his claim of responsibility
made in a video released last Monday and said the girls had converted
to Islam.
The rebel leader said that Boko Haram's "brothers in arms" had been
held in prison for up to five years and suggested that the girls would
be released if the fighters were freed.
"We will never release them until after you release our brethren," he said.
Boko Haram has kidnapped women and young girls in the past and Shekau indicated that more were being held.
Eleven girls were abducted from the Gwoza area of Borno state on May 4.
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