ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai has marked her 17th birthday today with a visit to Nigeria — where she urged Islamic extremists to free the 219 schoolgirls who were kidnapped there three months ago.
Malala, who was shot and seriously wounded two years ago by the Taliban for advocating education for girls, met today with Nigeria’s president. She says he promised to meet for the first time with the parents of the abducted girls, and also promised that “the girls will be returned as soon as possible.”
Malala issued an appeal directly to the kidnappers, saying, “Release the daughters of this nation. Let them be free. They have committed no crime.”
The girls were kidnapped by the extremist group Boko Haram (BOH’-koh hah-RAHM’) from a school in a remote northeastern Nigerian town.
Malala also spoke against the custom of child brides in her home country, a tradition common in Nigeria, too. Boko Haram has threatened to sell some of the girls as brides if its fighters are not freed.
%@AP Links
160-a-16-(Malala Yousafzai (mah-LAH’-lah YOO’-suhf-zeye), Pakistani advocate for girls’ education, at gathering of girls’ parents and ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ activists)-“your girls back”-Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani education activist who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban, encourages parents of the kidnapped schoolgirls stay hopeful. (14 Jul 2014)
<
159-a-14-(Malala Yousafzai (mah-LAH’-lah YOO’-suhf-zeye), Pakistani advocate for girls’ education, at gathering of girls’ parents and ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ activists)-“continue their education”-Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani education activist who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban, says she feels a kinship to the kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls. (14 Jul 2014)
<
APPHOTO NIN105: Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, centre, poses for a photo with her father Ziauddin left, and Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, at the Presidential villa, in Abuja, Nigeria, Monday, July 14, 2014. Malala Yousafzai won a promise from Nigeria’s leader to meet with the parents of some of the 219 schoolgirls held by Islamic extremists for three months. Malala celebrated her 17th birthday on Monday in Nigeria with promises to work for the release of the girls from the Boko Haram movement. (AP Photo) (14 Jul 2014)
< Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
