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.”

Pictures: President Goodluck Jonathan speaks to the media during a visit to This Day newspaper in Abuja

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan speaks to the media during a visit to This Day newspaper in Abuja April 28, 2012. Suicide car bombers targeted the offices of Nigerian newspaper This Day in the capital Abuja and northern city of Kaduna on Thursday, killing at least four people in apparently coordinated strikes. REUTERS/

Bomb attack at Bayero University in Kano. Christian fellowship targeted

BUK Gate - Sahara reporters

At least six people have been killed in a gun and bomb attack at a university in Nigeria's northern city of Kano, witnesses and police said.

A bomb squad and military units are searching for the gunmen who mounted the attack at Bayero University.

Reports suggest the violence may have targeted Christian students who were holding a religious service in one of the lecture theatres.

An army spokesman said several wounded people had been taken to hospital.

"The attack took place in one of the lecture theatres used as a place of worship by Christians," said Lt Iweha Ikedichi.

"There were casualties, but I don't have exact figures. Some have been rushed to local hospitals."

He said soldiers and police had surrounded the university and were searching for the gunmen.

Mohammed Suleiman, a history lecturer at the university, said security guards had to run for their lives when the violence broke out.

"For over 30 minutes a series of bomb explosions and gun shots took over the old campus, around the academic blocks," he told Reuters news agency.

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UPDATE. 35 people dead including Four Doctors and Two Professors, Andrew Leo (LIB Science) and J.T Ayodele (Chemistry)