Lagos,Israel joined the international effort
to trace more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamist militants in Nigeria
but Washington said US troops would stay out of any rescue mission.Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan spoke to Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday over telephone and accepted an
offer for assistance in finding the girls, who were kidnapped by Boko Haram
fighters nearly a month ago.Britain, the United States and France have already
sent specialist teams and equipment to help Nigeria's military in the search,
which is concentrated in the remote northeast riven by five years of deadly
violence.
Jonathan's spokesman Reuben Abati said
the president told Netanyahu that "Nigeria would be pleased to have
Israel's globally acknowledged anti-terrorism expertise deployed to support its
ongoing operations".French President Francois Hollande, meanwhile, said on
a visit to Azerbaijan that a summit on security in west Africa focusing on Boko
Haram could be held as early as this Saturday "if the countries
agree".The government in Abuja was criticised as slow to respond to find
the girls and Amnesty International claimed on Friday that the military had
prior warning about the impending abduction.But it has been forced into action
after a groundswell of national and international outrage that has included
protest marches across the world.
US, British and French help involves
the deployment of military intelligence and surveillance specialists. China has
also offered help.Washington, however, maintained that its assistance did not
extend to troops."There's no intention, at this point, to (put) American
boots on the ground," Hagel told ABC television, admitting that finding
the 223 girls still missing would be no easy task.Jonathan has said he believes
the girls were still in Nigeria and searches were being conducted in the
Sambisa forest area of northeastern Borno state, where the military has
previously found Boko Haram camps and arms caches.There have been fears,
however, that the girls may have been moved across the border into Chad and
Cameroon.
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