New Boko Haram video claims to show missing schoolgirls

A new video issued by Boko Haram in the past hour claims to show some of the nearly 300 schoolgirls missing in Nigeria.

The group alleges they had converted to Islam and would not be released until all of its prisoners held by Nigeria were freed.

On the video, obtained by the AFP news agency today, Abubakar Shekau, the group's leader, is shown speaking on for 17 minutes before showing what he said were about 130 of the girls, wearing the full-length hijab and praying in an undisclosed rural location.

It comes as a special adviser to the country's president says the Nigerian government will not pay to secure the release of the youngsters.

223 teenage girls were kidnapped from their school in the town of Chibok on April 14.