Relatives and friends of the abducted Nigerian
schoolgirls have identified some of them from a
video released by Boko Haram Islamist militants.
The footage showed about 130 of more than 200
girls who were kidnapped a month ago from their
boarding school in Borno state reciting Koranic
verses.
Boko Haram's leader says the captured girls who
have not converted to Islam can be swapped for
jailed fighters.
Nigeria's government says it is considering all
options.
In another development, the country's president is
seeking a six-month extension to the year-old state
of emergency in three north-eastern states worst
hit by Boko Haram attacks.
Meanwhile, the US has revealed it is flying manned
surveillance missions over Nigeria to an effort to
find the missing schoolgirls.
A team of about 30 US experts - members of the
FBI and defence and state departments - is in
Nigeria to help with the search. The UK, France and
China also have teams on the ground in Nigeria and
an Israeli counter-terrorism team is on its way.
'Apprehensive'
The 27-minute footage was shown to some people
in Chibok, the town from where the girls were
kidnapped, on Monday evening.
Not all girls are from Chibok itself as pupils from
surrounding areas had come to do their final year
exams in April as the school in the town was
considered relatively safe.
A community leader in Chibok told the BBC that
school friends had identified three of the girls in the
video.
A mother had also recognised her daughter from
the girls who appear in a group wearing hijabs, the
chairman of the parents-teachers association at the
school told the Reuters news agency
"The video got parents apprehensive again after
watching it but the various steps taken by the
governments and the coming of the foreign troops
is boosting our spirit, even though I have not seen
the any one soldier in Chibok yet," Dumoma Mpur
said.
The girls' families have said that most of those
seized are Christians, although there are a number
of Muslims among them.
Two girls on the video singled out for questioning
said they were Christians but had converted to
Islam. Another said she was Muslim.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said the girls
could be exchanged for "our brethren in your
prison".
"I swear to almighty Allah, you will not see them
again until you release our brothers that you have
captured," he said.
Last week, he had threatened to sell the girls into
slavery.
Nigerian government statement said "all options"
for the girls' release were on the table.
Earlier, Interior Minister Abba Moro appeared to
dismiss the offer, saying no exchange would take
place. The reason for the discrepancy was unclear.
The BBC's Mark Doyle, in the capital, Abuja, says it
appears some sort of negotiations will take place
because of the large presence of international
advisers in the country, including hostage
negotiators.
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western
education is forbidden", had previously said the
girls should not have been at school and should get
married instead.
The militants have been engaged in a violent
campaign against the Nigerian government since
2009.
President Goodluck Jonathan - whose government
has been heavily criticised for its response to the
abduction - said on Sunday that help from abroad
had made him optimistic of finding the girls.
He said he believed the girls were still in Nigeria.
The kidnapping has triggered a huge international
campaign with world leaders and celebrities calling
for the children to be released.
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