Nigerian Islam leaders play down rebel threat
Despite the fears of western intelligence agencies and the hopes of Islamic radicals such as Osama bin Laden, northern Nigeria’s mainstream Muslim leaders believe the region’s largely poor and conservative people are not ready for revolution. An investigation found small numbers of radicals – the survivors of a short-lived armed revolt in 2004 and clerics trained and funded by hard-line Saudi mosques – intent on stirring up unrest among Nigeria’s 60-million-strong Muslim population. Full Story