LAGOS,
Nigeria (AP) - An audio message allegedly posted to the Internet by the leader
of a radical Islamist sect in Nigeria threatens the oil-rich nation's president
and denies its members killed Muslim civilians in an attack last week that left
at least 185 people dead.
The
video posted to YouTube on Wednesday, shows a still image of Imam Abubakar
Shekau sitting on a beige sofa, a Kalashnikov rifle at his back. Speaking at
times in Arabic, English and the Hausa language of Nigeria's Muslim north,
Shekau said negotiations suggested by President Goodluck Jonathan between the
sect and the government will not happen.
"He's
lying. He cannot do it," Shekau said. "If Jonathan does not repent as
a Muslim, even if I die myself, Jonathan's going to see. He's looking at me
like I'm nobody, but he'll see."
In
the message, Shekau acknowledged that Boko Haram carried out the Jan. 20
attacks in Kano, Nigeria's second-largest city that killed at least 185 people.
Gunmen from the sect armed with explosives and assault rifles, some wearing
army and police uniforms, others suicide car bombers, attacked police stations,
immigration offices and the local headquarters of Nigeria' secret police.
However,
Shekau denied killing civilians in the attack, claiming the sect's gunmen tried
to protect the more than 9 million people who live in the important city in
Nigeria's north.
"We're
killing police officers, we're killing soldiers and other government people who
are fighting Allah and Christians who are killing Muslims and talking badly
about our Islamic religion," Shekau said. "I am not against
anyone, but if Allah asks me to kill someone, I will kill him and I will enjoy
killing him like I am killing a chicken."
AUDIO BELOW
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