A
purported senior member of Islamist militant group Boko Haram yesterday
distributed a letter requesting talks with the government.
An
attack on the police formation in Abuja yesterday and Sunday’s double suicide
bombing at the Command and Staff College in Jaji are linked to the sect but the
letter was silent on those attacks.
The
letter was signed by Sheik Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulazeez, a man known by local
security sources in Maiduguri to be a sect member but considered to be a
moderate.
Reuters
report that If the letter is genuine, it would appear to mark a change of tack
for the Islamists that fits ill with a spate of violent episodes.
Nearly
3,000 people have died violent deaths related to the conflict since the sect
launched its uprising in 2009, according to a count by Human Rights Watch.
The
letter was handed to the an official of the local chapter of the Nigeria Union
of Journalists (NUJ), Aba Kakami, who has often received and distributed
statements from the sect, usually claiming attacks against high profile targets
or warning of them.
Communication
with the sect has been even more sporadic than normal since the military killed
their spokesman Abu Qaqa in September in a gun battle.
Abdulazeez
first contacted reporters in Maiduguri earlier this month, setting conditions
for peace talks in a teleconference and nominating former military head of
State Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and others as mediators. Gen, Buhari has since
declined the offer.
“We
are by this letter of invitation to our respected elders proving to government
that we are not joking with the government, but we are awaiting the response of
those concerned,” the letter said.
Abdulazeez
said he was speaking on behalf of Abubakar Shekau, the sect’s leader.
But
even if Abdulazeez does represent Shekau, the extent to which Boko Haram is controlled
by Shekau is in doubt, and analysts think military pressure has fragmented it.
The
letter nominated as mediator, Imam Gabchiya, an official of the University of
Maiduguri.
There
was no immediate reaction from government officials, but President Goodluck
Jonathan said on Nov. 18 that no talks were going on with Boko Haram while they
remained faceless and in the shadows.
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