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Around 100 girls wearing full veils and praying are shown in
an undisclosed location in the 17-minute video in which Boko
Haram leader Abubakar Shekau speaks, according to the French
news agency.
Militants fighting for an Islamist state stormed a secondary
school in the northeastern village of Chibok on April 14 and
seized 276 girls who were taking exams. Some managed to escape
but around 200 remain missing.
The group has killed thousands since 2009 and destabilized parts
of northeast Nigeria, the country with Africa's largest
population and biggest economy.
The attack has provoked global expressions of outrage, and
concern about the fate of the girls deepened when Shekau
threatened in a video released earlier this month to sell the
girls "in the market".
Nigeria said on Saturday it had deployed two army divisions to
the hunt for the girls while several nations including the
United States, Britain, Israel and France have offered
assistance or sent experts.
The Nigerian government has been sharply criticized for its
response to the abductions but President Goodluck Jonathan said
on Sunday that international military and intelligence
assistance made him optimistic about finding the girls.
French President Francois Hollande on Sunday offered to host a
summit in Paris next Saturday with Nigeria and its neighbors
focused on the militant group.
The leaders of Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger might also attend
and Britain, the European Union and the United States would
probably be represented as well, Hollande's aides said.
The mass abduction of schoolgirls has touched a chord around the
world, and triggered a support campaign using the Twitter
hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
(Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris; Editing by Kevin
Liffey)
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Nigeria's
Boko Haram Offers To Swap Kidnapped Girls For Prisoners
