US offer to help Nigerian search for abducted schoolgirls

Secretary of State John Kerry called Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to reiterate US offer to help find nearly 300 teen-age girls abducted from a school in northeast Nigeria three weeks ago by the terrorist group Boko Haram. Jonathan welcomed Kerry's offer to send a team to Nigeria to discuss how the US can best support Nigeria in its response, State Departmant spokeswoman Jen Psaki said during a briefing Tuesday. In addition, the US Embassy in Abuja is prepared to form a coordination cell that could provide expertise on intelligence, investigations and hostage negotiations, and help facilitate information-sharing and provide victim assistance, Psaki said. It would include US military personnel, law enforcement officials with expertise in investigations and hostage negotiations, as well as officials with expertise in other areas that may be helpful to the Nigerian government in its response, she said. President Barack Obama has directed that the State Department do everything it can to help the Nigerian government find and free the young women, Psaki said. Obama and Kerry have their regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, "and this will certainly be a prominent topic of discussion," she said. Kerry will speak with Obama about "how we can continue to step up our efforts to assist the Nigerians in this effort. And of course, naturally, we want to get this going as quickly as possible," she said. During a separate briefing at the White House, spokesman Jay Carney was asked if the Nigerian government had done enough to try to find the girls, and Carney said that "it is certainly Nigeria's responsibility to maintain the safety and security of its citizens." Time is of the essence, Carney said. "Appropriate action must be taken to locate and to free these young women before they are trafficking or killed," he said. "We urge the Nigerian government to ensure that it is bringing all appropriate resources to bear in a concerted effort to ensure their safe return." The US is "absolutely committed to helping Nigeria, but it is the Nigerian government's responsibility first and foremost to maintain the safety and security of its citizens, and we urge the Nigerian government to take action to ensure that it is bringing all appropriate resources to bear in the effort to find them and free them," Carney said.