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What's next?
Boko Haram in talks over girls
September 20, 2014 -- Updated 1554 GMT (2354 HKT)
A video of Abubakar Shekau, who
claims to be the leader of the Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko
Haram, is shown on September 25, 2013. Boko Haram is an Islamist militant group waging a campaign of violence
in northern Nigeria. The group's ambitions range from the stricter
enforcement of Sharia law to the total destruction of the Nigerian state
and its government. Click through to see recent bloody incidents in
this strife-torn West African nation:
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Boko Haram: Nigeria's crisis
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Boko Haram in talks with Nigerian officials and International Committee of the Red Cross
- Talks involve a swap of imprisoned members of the terror group for Chibok school girls kidnapped
- An estimated 276 girls were kidnapped in April from a boarding school in northeastern Nigeria
The officials met four times in mid-August with two senior members of Boko Haram in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.
The swap would involve
the released of 30 Boko Haram commanders in the custody of the Nigerian
government, according to the source, who asked not to be named due to
the sensitivity of the issue.
Boko Haram submitted a list with the names of 30 members who were either convicted or awaiting trial on terror offenses.
A screengrab taken in May from a Boko Haram video shows the schoolgirls in an undisclosed rural location.
"The two Boko Haram
negotiators assured the ICRC and government negotiators that the girls
were never raped, were never used as sex slaves and were never sexually
assaulted," said the source, who attended the discussions.
The terror group abducted
an estimated 276 girls in April from a boarding school in Chibok in
northeastern Nigeria. Dozens escaped, but more than 200 are still
missing.
Boko Haram has expressed a
willingness for a swap with the ICRC at an undisclosed, according to
the source. But there was disagreement on some terms, including the
number of girls involved in the swap.
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Boko Haram had insisted
on an even swap -- 30 girls for the 30 commanders -- but the government
refused, according to the source.
"They were only ready to release one to one, which the government was not going to accept," the source said.
Another hurdle in the
talks was Boko Haram's insistence on meeting the imprisoned 30 members
involved in the swap, but they only had contact with six at a prison
outside Abuja, the source said.
The six prisoners
included Kabiru Sokoto, a senior Boko Haram commander convicted in
December 2013 of terror charges related to the deadly Christmas Day
bombing of a church in the town of Madallah in 2011.
"ICRC couldn't find where the remaining 24 were being detained," the source said.
The Boko Haram negotiators said they would get back to the government after consulting with superiors.
ICRC sources declined to comment.
The name "Boko Haram" translates to "Western education is sin"
in the local Hausa language. The militant group is trying to impose
strict Sharia law across Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa.
In recent years, its
attacks have intensified in an apparent show of defiance amid the
nation's military onslaught. Its ambitions appear to have expanded to
the destruction of the Nigerian government.
CNN's Ray Sanchez contributed to this story.
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