Video - Four Boko Haram members to face death penalty for UN attack

And now on to Nigeria, where four members of a radical Islamist sect face trial for bombing the U.N. headquarters in the Nigerian capital. If found guilty, the men face the death penalty for their role in the attack, which killed 23 people.

Four suspected members of a radical Islamist sect have been charged with orchestrating a suicide bombing on United Nations headquarters in the Nigerian capital last month.

The attack killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 100.

They face the death penalty if found guilty.

The men are accused of being members of Boko Haram, whose name in the Haussa language means "Western education is forbidden."

They were among 19 men brought to a magistrates court in Abuja on Friday accused of carrying out separate attacks as members of the sect.

The sect is also blamed for almost daily killings around its home base in the remote northeast.

The U.N. attack was the first known suicide bombing in Nigeria.

It marked an escalation in the group's tactics and revealed a step-up in the sophistication of explosives it uses.

Intelligence officials have said evidence suggests some Boko Haram members have trained in Niger and have connections with al Qaeda's North African wing.

The United States has become increasingly concerned about the threat posed by Boko Haram and its cooperation with al Qaeda.

Nigeria's population of more than 140 million is split roughly equally between a largely Muslim north and a mostly Christian south.

Boko Haram, which wants Islamic sharia law more widely applied, does not have the support of the majority of Nigerian Muslims.

ntdtv

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