Pressure Mounts On The US Government To Designate Boko Haram A "foreign terrorist organisation"

The U.S. Congress is pushing to designate Nigerian militant group Boko Haram a "foreign terrorist organisation" But the Nigerian Defence minister says that this will not help efforts to start dialogue and the move does not have Nigeria's backing.

"We are looking at dialogue to establish the grievances of the Boko Haram. I think the attempt to declare them an international terrorist organization will not be helpful," Defence Minister Bello Mohammed said in Cape Town.

Pressure has been growing on the Obama administration to formally designate Boko Haram a "foreign terrorist organisation."

Scott Brown, a Republican senator from Massachusetts, wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton late last week, urging her to designate the group as a terrorist organization.

U.S. Representatives Peter King and Patrick Meehan, chairmen of the House Homeland Security Committee and its counterterrorism subcommittee, released a letter they sent to Clinton suggesting the administration was moving too slowly.

But Scholars based in America  had urged the U.S government to tread cautiously on the issue, by refraining from listing the group as a foreign terrorist organisation (FTO).
“An FTO designation would internationalise Boko Haram’s standing and enhance its status among radical organisations elsewhere. Boko Haram’s recent tactics, including the use of suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices, raise questions about their foreign links,” the dons said.

The scholars, in a joint letter sent to the American government on its plan to brand Boko Haram as FTO, expressed conviction that doing so would accord the group an international status.

The American university dons said any attempt to internationalise the Boko Haram activities would enhance its profile among al-Qaeda and other global militant groups.

They added that “should Boko Haram be designated an FTO through this regime, it would be illegal for non-governmental organisations to interact with members of Boko Haram – even if the purpose of such contact was to persuade them to renounce violence.”