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Identity of UN House bomber revealed-CNN
Thur Sep 1,2011
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Two Boko Haram suspects arrested by SSS
The Nigerian Islamic militant group Boko Haram says it bombed
U.N. offices in Abuja last week because the world body is a
partner "in the oppression of believers," a spokesman for the
group said Wednesday.
Friday's car bombing killed 23 people and wounded more than 80.
Boko Haram, which aims to impose a strict version of Islamic law
in Nigeria, claimed responsibility for the attack.
In a brief telephone interview arranged by an intermediary, Boko
Haram spokesman Abul Qaqa said a 27-year-old Nigerian named
Mohammed Abul Barra drove the explosives-packed Honda Accord
into the U.N. building.
"All over the world, the U.N. is a global partner in the
oppression of believers," Qaqa said. "We are at war against
infidels. In Nigeria, the federal government tries to perpetuate
the agenda of the United Nations."
U.N. agencies operating in Nigeria include the World Health
Organization, the U.N. Development Program, the children's
organization UNICEF, the Office on Drugs and Crime, the Joint
Program on HIV and AIDS and the U.N. Development Fund for Women.
The building hit by the attack housed 26 U.N. humanitarian and
development agencies, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said last
week.
Nigerian authorities said Wednesday that the bombing was plotted
by a man with ties to the al Qaeda terrorist network. The
Nigerian State Security Service said Mamman Nur was a "notorious
Boko Haram element" who recently returned from Somalia, where
the Somali militant Al-Shabaab has been linked to al Qaeda.
Though a Nigerian engineer was among the dead, Qaqa said the
group did not intend to kill the man. He added, however, "We
have told everyone that the U.N. is the bastion of the global
oppression of Muslims all over the world."
"As such, we have warned everyone to steer clear of such
places," he said. "They should steer clear of such places that
we have mentioned in the past. The battle has changed."
Africa's most populous nation is divided between a largely
Christian south and a Muslim north. "Boko Haram" -- which
translates loosely as "Western education is forbidden/sinful" --
holds all government authority in contempt and wants to
establish a state in northern Nigeria under Islamic law.
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