AFRICAN LEADERS UNITE AGAINST TERRORISM

African leaders have pledged to wage “total war” on Boko Haram, the militant Islamist group who kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria. 
The group is “acting clearly as an al-Qaida operation”, the Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, said. Speaking at a summit of African leaders in Paris, he said the threat posed by the militant group was now an international problem. 
The French president, François Hollande, who is hosting the talks, said Boko Haram had links to al-Qaida and other terrorist organisations. “Boko Haram is a major threat for all of western Africa and now central Africa with proven links to AQIM [al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb] and other terrorist organisations,” he said.

 “A comprehensive plan needs to be put in place from exchanging information to coordinating action and controlling borders.” The president of Chad, Idriss Déby, said: “There is determination to tackle this situation head on” and “to launch a war, a total war on Boko Haram”. Speaking before the talks in Paris, William Hague urged west African nations to put aside their differences to end rebel attacks.
 “This is one sickening and terrible incident, but they continue almost every day to commit terrorist attacks and atrocities of other kinds, so they have to be defeated in the region,” the UK foreign secretary said. 

“That requires a better regional strategy among the African countries, but with our support.” He said Nigerian security forces were not well structured to deal with the threat posed by Boko Haram. “We can help with that, which is why we are offering to embed military advisers within the Nigerian headquarters,” he said. 
“Nigeria has the main responsibility and must be the leading nation in tackling this and that includes to mount an effective security response and improve development.” 
The presidents of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin were invited to the meeting in Paris, with representatives from France, the UK, the US and the European Union. - Guardian UK