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THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2014 Ø N A9 Small Comfort as Parents See Daughters in Video

the door. When the parents From Page A1 emerged, their universe of anxi- missing, are now bargaining ety had shifted. Some appeared chips for Boko Haram, which is dazed and perturbed as they demanding that the Nigerian slumped in plastic chairs on the government release its impris- grounds of the state-run hotel oned members in exchange for here. the kidnapped students. “She’s not feeling O.K.,” said But while much of the world Lawan Zanah, who had just seen saw the girls sitting passively his daughter Ayesha, 18, in the and compliant in the video, many video. “The way she is sitting. of their families had to wait. One She doesn’t even know where she parent explained that there was is. She seemed sad. Sad.” no electricity in their village to The girls had come to the Chi- enable them to watch, a poignant bok Government Girls Secondary reminder of how poor many vic- School to take their final exams, tims in the conflict here often are. and many were staying over- night there. Armed and uni- By the end of Tuesday, 77 faces formed men rounded them up, in the solemn crowd of girls, new- loaded them into trucks and ly clad from head to toe in som- drove off with them. Although ber black-and-gray robes, had about 50 escaped, not a single one been recognized, the state gover- of the remaining girls has been nor’s office said in a statement. found. The robes, revealing only the Ms. Yaga conveyed the shock, schoolgirls’ faces, rendered some four weeks later, of going to fetch of them difficult to identify, some her daughter and not finding her parents said. there. The government had arranged “My daughter was living in the a first showing of the video in school,” she said. “When I went Chibok on Monday to identify the in the morning to see her, she girls, but it had to be halted wasn’t there.” AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES abruptly when the parents be- The video may have provided Relatives of the Nigerian girls kidnapped last month arrived on Tuesday in Maiduguri to view a video released by the abductors. came overcome with grief, de- some relief to the parents, but on manding that the government’s Tuesday there were no indica- identification process be moved tions that the girls were any clos- manding general of the American Myles B. Caggins III, said Tues- on a previously scheduled visit The international effort, ex- here to Maiduguri. er to being located. The Islamists military’s Africa Command, vis- day. for talks with his Nigerian coun- panding last weekend as the “The families became upset are likely to be holding them in a ited Nigeria on Monday and “It’s certain General Rodri- terparts that also included senior plight of the girls captured the and they started crying ‘this is vast forest of low trees and scrub Tuesday to discuss assistance for guez reassured the Nigerians American policy makers and dip- global imagination, appeared to my child,’” a senior state official that abuts Chibok, but so far Ni- the search, including surveillance that the U.S. is committed to sup- lomats, including Sarah Sewall, be of some comfort to the parents said Tuesday evening. “They gerian military efforts have been aircraft and satellite imagery, as porting their efforts to find the the undersecretary of state for ci- who came here Tuesday. started shouting. They had to unsuccessful. well as broader security coopera- kidnapped schoolgirls,” Colonel vilian security, democracy and Yet uncertainty and longing stop the filming.” Boko Haram has conducted tion with Nigerian officials, a Caggins said. human rights, Colonel Caggins prevailed. “I just want my daugh- Then on Tuesday, the state large-scale attacks on govern- Pentagon spokesman, Lt. Col. The general arrived Monday said. ter to be back,” Mr. Wattai said. government organized a group of ment and civilian targets, includ- about 15 parents, relatives and ing schools, and the Nigerian girls who had escaped the Islam- government has waged a bloody ists to make the arduous journey counterinsurgency against the to the state capital here to watch group, detaining and killing hun- the video. They were guarded by dreds of suspects and civilians. rifle-bearing militia members But statements from the Nige- from the village in red uniforms rian government suggested that because the road is still preyed officials might be open to negoti- on by Boko Haram. ations, while senior American The group, along with teach- military and civilian officials ar- ers, officials and security opera- rived in the national capital, Abu- tives, packed into the room at the ja, for talks with the government. government complex and locked Gen. David M. Rodriguez, com-

World Briefing

ASIA Pakistan: Departing Travelers Must Get Polio Vaccine As of June 1, Pakistan will require everyone leaving the country to get a polio vaccination, the Health Ministry said Tuesday. The World Health Organization declared the spread of polio an international public health emergency this month and identified Pakistan, Syria and Cameroon as having allowed the virus to spread beyond their borders. Pakistani offi- cials said all provinces had been given the necessary guidance and ma- terials to set up special counters at hospitals and airports for polio vac- cination and certification. (AP)

MIDDLE EAST Saudi Arabia: Iranian Defense Minister Is Invited Saudi Arabia has invited Iran’s foreign minister to visit, Saudi officials said Tuesday, a move that would hint at the possibility of a thaw be- tween two bitter rivals. The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al- Faisal, said at a news conference that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had been invited but did not say when, or if, Iran had for- mally responded. Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has adopted a con- ciliatory tone toward its neighbors since taking office last year, but while Mr. Zarif has visited other Arab gulf states, he has not been to Saudi Arabia. ()

AFRICA South Africa: Prosecutor Seeks Evaluation of Pistorius Gerrie Nel, the prosecutor in the trial of , the track star accused of murdering his girlfriend, , last year, for- mally applied Tuesday for him to undergo a 30-day psychiatric evalua- tion. The move followed testimony on Monday by a forensic psychia- trist testifying for the defense that Mr. Pistorius had “general anxiety disorder,” dating to the amputation of his legs below the knee as a baby and a childhood dominated by a largely absent father and a mother so anxious about potential intruders that she slept with a firearm under her pillow. ALAN COWELL Central African Republic: Sanctions for Former Leader President Obama has imposed sanctions on the Central African Repub- lic’s former president, François Bozizé, and four other men linked to vi- olence and human rights abuses in the country, the White House said Tuesday. The country has been racked by sectarian violence for a year since Seleka rebels, who are mostly Muslim, seized power, and militias known as “anti-balaka” and who are mainly Christian, fought back. The sanctions, which freeze assets and ban travel, followed sanctions im- posed last week by the United Nations Security Council on Mr. Bozizé, who is an “anti-balaka” supporter, and two others. (REUTERS)

EUROPE The Hague: Court to Review British War Crime Inquiry The prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, said Tuesday that she had reopened a preliminary war crimes in- vestigation into accusations that British officials were responsible for the systematic abuse of Iraqi prisoners by Britain’s military from 2003 to 2008. A similar investigation was closed in 2006, but Ms. Bensouda said she would review whether new information she received in Janu- ary justified reopening the case. Although Iraq has not signed the Rome Statute, which governs the court’s proceedings, Britain has, and its citi- zens can in theory be prosecuted for crimes committed in Iraq or else- where. However, the court, which is based in The Hague, can proceed only if the allegations are not being properly investigated by the British authorities themselves. STEPHEN CASTLE

THE AMERICAS Uruguay: Inmate Tapped Into Ambassador’s Phone A Uruguayan inmate tapped into the United States ambassador’s cell- phone and tried to commit fraud, the authorities said Tuesday. Officials said the inmate got Ambassador Julissa Reynoso’s voicemail password. “He got access to some messages left by some of my friends. And he was able to — I don’t know how — send certain messages from prison to some of my contacts,” Ms. Reynoso told Uruguay’s Canal 10 TV. FM Gente radio in Maldonado first reported the tapping, saying the police discovered it while investigating the inmate for other fraud. (AP)