Jonathan urges boko haram to come out and talk.

President Goodluck Jonathan
on Thursday challenged the
violent Islamist sect Boko
Haram to identify themselves
and state clearly their
demands as a basis for
talks, while acknowledging
that military confrontation
alone will not end their
insurgency.
In an interview with Reuters
at the presidential villa in
Abuja, Mr. Jonathan also said
there was no doubt that
Boko Haram had links with
other jihadist groups outside
Nigeria.
"If they clearly identify
themselves now and say this
is the reason why we are
resisting, this is the reason
why we are confronting
government or this is the
reason why we destroy some
innocent people and their
properties ... then there will
be a basis for dialogue," Mr.
Jonathan said.
"We will dialogue, let us
know your problems and we
will solve your problem but if
they don't identify
themselves, who will you
dialogue with?"
But he cautioned that the
crisis would be much harder
to resolve than the now
rested militant insurgence in
the Niger Delta, which was
largely defused in 2009
under an amnesty he helped
broker.