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Nigeria: President Jonathan rejects ‘blackmail’ from Boko Haram radicals
Shekau, who was speaking in the Hausa language, also criticised Obama over Washington’s decision to label him a “global terrorist”.
It was unclear when the video was made, but it marks the first time Shekau has publicly addressed the terrorist designation that the United States gave him in June.
The clip, posted on YouTube, is more than 38 minutes long. While it could not be independently verified as authentic, it was similar to previous videos of Shekau.
Addressing Obama, Shekau said: “You said I’m a global terrorist, then you are a terrorist in the next world.”
Boko Haram has carried out scores of attacks in Nigeria that have left hundreds dead as part of an increasingly deadly insurgency.
Members of the group are believed to have received training from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in northern Mali and Western countries have been watching closely for signs of further cooperation.
Some US lawmakers have been pushing Obama’s administration to label Boko Haram as a whole a terrorist organization, but American diplomats have stressed that the group remains domestically focused.
