Nigeria Cites al-Qaeda to Woo Allies in War on Islamists
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Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has switched tack from saying his government is winning the war against the Islamist group Boko Haram to describing it as an expanding al-Qaeda-backed threat to Africa.
The change came after his administration drew criticism over its handling of the April 14 kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram that highlighted his army’s failure to defeat militants who’ve killed thousands of people in their five-year insurgency. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said Jonathan, who waited almost three weeks before speaking publicly about the abductions, didn’t act fast enough to free them.