Nigeria's government has said it is ready to
hold talks with Boko Haram to secure the
release of more than 200 girls abducted from
their school last month.
Special Duties Minister Taminu Turaki told the
AFP news agency "The window of negotiation is
still open."
Turaki, who last year headed a committee
pursuing an amnesty pact with some Boko
Haram fighters, said "Nigeria has always been
willing to dialogue with the insurgents."
"We are willing to carry that dialogue on any
issue, including the girls kidnapped in Chibok,
because certainly we are not going to say that
[the abduction] is not an issue," he said.
The minister's statement came a day after the
Boko Haram released a video in which its
leader Abubakar Shekau said the girls abducted
last month from a secondary school would be
released once Nigeria freed all the Boko
Haram prisoners it had in custody.
But that proposal was rejected by the Nigerian
government. The United States has also
opposed any swap with the US State
Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki saying the
US' policy was "to deny kidnappers the
benefits of their criminal acts, including
ransoms or concessions".
The commander of US forces in Africa has
flown to Nigeria to discuss how Washington
can help the hunt for the kidnapped girls.
