Islamist
militants Boko Haram have released a video apparently showing about 130 girls
kidnapped from a school in northern Nigeria on 14 April.
Boko
Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said the children would be held until all
imprisoned militants had been freed.
Interior
Minister Abba Moro rejected the deal, telling the BBC that it was
"absurd" for a "terrorist group" to try to set conditions.
Boko
Haram abducted more than 200 girls and threatened to sell them.
It
will come as a relief for the parents to see at least some of the kidnapped
girls alive. The video shows 136 girls sitting on the floor, wearing hijabs and
repeatedly citing the first verse of Koran, followed by the words: "Allah
is the only God who should be worshipped and the Prophet Muhammad is the only
messenger." This is a pronouncement of their conversion to Islam.
The
Boko Haram leader later says they have become "sisters of the
militants" following their conversion. Next he goes on to say he may
consider swapping the girls for imprisoned militants - but only those who have
not converted.
The
interior minister has said "terrorists" cannot set conditions, but
the government is likely to come under pressure to bow to the militants'
demands to see at least some girls released.
The BBC's John Simpson in the northern city of
Maiduguri says Boko Haram's comments show signs that the group is willing to
negotiate.
Three
of the girls - wearing full-length cloaks - are shown speaking in the 27-minute
video, obtained by French news agency AFP.
Two
girls say they were Christian and have converted to Islam, while the other says
she is Muslim.
"These
girls, these girls you occupy yourselves with... we have indeed liberated them.
These girls have become Muslims," Abubakar Shekau says in the video.
He
said his offer to swap the girls for imprisoned militants only referred to the
children who had not converted to Islam.
It
is thought the majority of the abducted girls are Christians, although there
are a number of Muslims among them.
A
man who is related to three of the abducted girls said the video at first gave
him hope, but then made him anxious and tearful.
"Maybe
they are converted into another religion by force, so it truly is a kind of
terrifying situation," said the man, who did not want to be named.
Some
136 girls are shown in the video, just under half of the 276 pupils abducted
from their school in the northern state of Borno.
Our
correspondent says this could mean those abducted had been split into smaller
groups to help avoid detection.
Local
officials said they had started making copies of the video to show relatives
and friends of the abducted girls in an attempt to identify them.
Boko
Haram, which 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.
The
government has faced heavy criticism of its response to the mass abduction.
President
Goodluck Jonathan said on Sunday that assistance from abroad had made him
optimistic of finding the girls.
The
UK and US already have teams helping on the ground in Nigeria and an Israeli
counter-terrorism team is also on its way to the country.
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