Guardian exclusive: Boko Haram goals
Prior posts have given attention to the potential for widening inter-religious conflict in Nigeria. It has been difficult to find authoritative and coherent statements in English by those taking credit for the most sustained attacks: the so-called Boko Haram. There is an exclusive interview in Friday’s Guardian newspaper that offers some of what has been missing.
The Islamist group Boko Haram, which has killed almost 1,000 people in Nigeria, will continue its campaign of violence until the country is ruled by sharia law, a senior member has told the Guardian.
“We will consider negotiation only when we have brought the government to their knees,” the spokesman, Abu Qaqa, said in the group’s first major interview with a western newspaper. “Once we see that things are being done according to the dictates of Allah, and our members are released [from prison], we will only put aside our arms – but we will not lay them down. You don’t put down your arms in Islam, you only put them aside.”
Please access the full report at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/27/boko-haram-nigeria-sharia-law. While at The Guardian check-out several related side-bar stories. Some of these support concerns I have previously outlined, some argue my concerns are overblown or badly targeted.
