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The three native Nigerians that the US has in its sights are: Abubakar Shekau, 43, a Boko Haram leader who reportedly aligned himself with al-Qaida in a video message; Abubakar Adam Kambar, 35; and Khalid al-Barnawi, aged 36.
Designating them as terrorists will freeze any assets they have in the US and bar any US citizen from conducting transactions with them.
President Barak Obama and the state department have been under pressure to take act stronger against the Islamist terrorist sect for months and formally include it on its terrorist watch list.
Republican senator Scott Brown wrote to secretary of state Hillary Clinton, urging her to take action against the group. But 20 American experts on Nigerian politics warned that branding Boko Haram as a terrorist organisation would empower the group on an international level and enhance its profile among al-Qaida and other militant groups.
"The network's focus has been overwhelmingly domestic, despite an August 2011 attack on the United Nations office in Abuja," they said.
The suicide bombing in Abuja is being used by lawmakers as evidence of the armed group's willingness to harm American interests.
Nigerian officials are concerned that putting Boko Haram on the watch list will make it more difficult for Nigerian citizens to travel to the US and affect bilateral trade between the two nations.
Defence minister Bello Halliru Mohammed said the plan to list Boko Haram as a "foreign terrorist organisation" would also affect dialogue between the group and the government.
"We are looking at a dialogue to establish the grievances of the Boko Haram. The attempt to declare them an international terrorist organisation will not be helpful," Mohammed said
"Boko Haram is not operating in America and America is not operating in Nigeria. They are not involved in our internal security operations, so I don't think it would be of much significance really in that respect. But we don't support it."
Peace talks between the federal government and the sect, which wants to impose Sharia law across Nigeria, were halted when a Boko Haram spokesman claimed he could not trust the government.
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UPDATE 3-CarMax shares down as wholesale unit disappoints - Reuters
* Q1 EPS $0.52 vs est $0.53
* Q1 rev $2.77 bln vs est $2.82 bln
* Wholesale-vehicle revenue falls 2 pct
* New-vehicle sales fall 13 pct
* Shares fall more than 7 pct
By Sagarika Jaisinghani
June 21 (Reuters) - CarMax Inc, a retailer of new and used cars, posted a quarterly profit that missed analysts' estimates as its wholesale business sold fewer cars.
The largest retailer of used cars in the United States said although more people visited its stores to sell their cars during the quarter compared with a year earlier, the visits did not translate into as many buys by the company.
"They've been challenged with the supply of 1-to-3 year-old cars, which is their core (business)," said Rick Nelson, an analyst at Stephens Inc.
There has also been some resistance among customers to high used-car prices, Nelson added.
Sales and gross profit at the company's wholesale unit have been buoyed by higher used-car pricing. However, prices have recently started declining, Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter wrote in a note to clients.
Revenue at the company's wholesale unit fell 2 percent to $467.8 million while prices declined marginally. Revenue at the segment had risen 32 percent and 52 percent in the first quarter of the two previous fiscal years.
CarMax's near-term earnings growth outlook is lackluster and may even disappoint, analyst Balter said and cut his price target on the stock to $30 from $34.
The company benefited during the recession as cash-strapped consumers looked for bargains, but warned last year that increased competition from new car dealers may slow growth.
CarMax, which competes with America's Car-Mart, said selling, general and administrative costs rose 5 percent, partly because of two new stores it opened during the quarter.
The Richmond, Virginia-based company said on a call with analysts that it expects costs to rise further as it plans to open ten stores in fiscal 2013. It has opened two of these stores in the current quarter.
Total retail sales of new vehicles fell 13 percent to 2,107 units in the quarter ended May 31, compared with a 14 percent growth in the year-ago period.
The company earned 52 cents per share on revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter ended May 31. Analysts were expecting a profit of 53 cents per share on revenue of $2.82 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Shares of the company, which has a market value of about $6 billion, were down 7 percent at $25.98 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.
OAP attacked in Middlesbrough shopping centre + CCTV - GazetteLive
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