We Will Negotiate After Bringing “Government To Its Knees”-Boko Haram

Qaqa told the newspaper that “We will consider negotiation only when we have brought the government to its knees. Once we see that things are being done according to the dictates of Allah, and our members are released (from prison), we will only put aside our arms – but we will not lay them down. You don’t put down your arms in Islam, you only put them aside.”

The Guardian of London published an exclusive interview with Boko Haram spokesman, Abu Qaqa in which he confirmed that the group’s leaders met with the Al Qaida in Saudi Arabia last August where they cemented the group’s financial and logistics base.

Qaqa, whose name is a pseudonym, said the group’s members were spiritual followers of al-Qaida, and claimed they had met senior figures in the network founded by Osama bin Laden during visits to Saudia Arabia.

Qaqa said the group’s leader, Shekau and others had travelled to Saudi Arabia for training and funding. “Al-Qaida are our elder brothers. During the lesser Hajj [last August], our leader travelled to Saudi Arabia and met al-Qaida there. We enjoy financial and technical support from them. Anything we want from them we ask them.”

Qaqa disclosed that recruits from neighbouring Chad, Cameroon and Niger had joined the group. A recent UN report said weapons from Libya may have been smuggled to Boko Haram and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb via Chad, Niger and Nigeria.

He added that his group which has killed almost 1,000 people in Nigeria, will continue its campaign of violence until the country is ruled by sharia law.