Warning that “time is of the essence,” the United States announced Tuesday that it would assemble a special team in Nigeria to help that country’s government rescue more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls before they are sold into slavery or killed.

Secretary of State John Kerry announced that he had telephoned Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to urge him to accept American assistance nearly one month after the girls were abducted. Boko Haram, a group the United States has branded a terrorist organization, has claimed responsibility.

“Our embassy in Abuja is prepared to form a coordination cell that could provide expertise on intelligence, investigations and hostage negotiations and to help facilitate information-sharing and victim assistance,” Kerry told reporters at a joint press conference with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

“President Goodluck Jonathan was very happy to receive this offer and ready to move on it immediately. And we are immediately engaging in order to implement this,” Kerry said.

Asked about the delay between the April 14 kidnappings and the U.S. aid, Kerry echoed the frustration of other senior officials in Washington, who have charged that Jonathan’s government dragged its feet.

“You can offer and talk, but you can't do if a government has its own sense of how it's proceeding,” Kerry said. “I think now the complications that have arisen have convinced everybody that there needs to be a greater effort. And it will begin immediately; I mean literally immediately.”

At the White House, press secretary Jay Carney said the U.S. embassy in Abuja was prepared to assemble an interagency team “that could provide expertise on intelligence, investigations and hostage negotiations, could help facilitate information-sharing and provide victim assistance.”

The team “would include U.S. military personnel, law enforcement officials with expertise in investigations and hostage negotiations, as well as officials with expertise in other areas that may be helpful to the Nigerian government in its response,” the spokesman said.

“These girls were captured and kidnapped 22 days ago, and time is of the essence. Appropriate action must be taken to locate and to free these young women before they are trafficked or killed,” Carney told reporters at his daily briefing.

At the State Department, spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said that the embassy team “could be a combination of personnel on the ground, and if others are needed to be sent in, I'm sure we will deliver that.”

The team would not, however, include elite American commandos like those deployed to aid in the hunt for fugitive warlord Joseph Kony, officials said.

On Monday, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the April 14 abduction of the girls from their boarding school in Chibok, northeastern Nigeria, and threatened to sell them as “slaves.”

"I abducted your girls," the Islamist group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, said in the 57-minute video obtained by AFP.

The State Department has said that some of the girls have likely already been taken to neighboring countries.

President Barack Obama and Kerry were to discuss the situation during an Oval Office meeting today.

Carney’s comments included language implicitly rebuking Nigeria for its handling of the situation.

“We urge the Nigerian government to ensure that it is bringing all appropriate resources to bear in a concerted effort to ensure their safe return. We are absolutely committed to helping Nigeria, but it is the Nigerian government's responsibility, first and foremost, to maintain the safety and security of its citizens. And we urge the Nigerian government to take action to ensure that it is bringing all appropriate resources to bear in the effort to find them and free them,” he said.

Jonathan has come under mounting pressure over his handling of the crisis, notably the fact that he spoke out publicly for the first time on Sunday and has, U.S. official say, turned down past U.S. offers of help.

Outrage has been building in the U.S. Congress as well, with bipartisan calls on Obama to do more to aid in the rescue of the girls.

On Tuesday, all 20 women in the U.S. Senate sent a bipartisan letter to Obama denouncing the kidnappings and urging him to seek tougher sanctions on Boko Haram.

"In the face of the brazen nature of this horrific attack, the international community must impose further sanctions on this terrorist organization,” said the group, which was led by Senators Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Susan Collins, R-Maine.

Military and law enforcement staff will help look for more than 200 teenage girls, a White House spokesman says.
Obama monitoring

Iran admiral: US ships are a target in case of war

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran will target American aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf should a war between the two countries ever break out, the naval chief of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard warned Tuesday as the country completes work on a large-scale mock-up of a U.S. carrier.

The remarks by Adm. Ali Fadavi, who heads the hard-line Guard's naval forces, were a marked contrast to moderate President Hassan Rouhani's recent outreach policies toward the West — a reminder of the competing viewpoints that exist at the highest levels within the Islamic Republic.

Iran is building a simple replica of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in a shipyard in the southern port of Bandar Abbas in order to be used in future military exercises, an Iranian newspaper confirmed last month.

Fadavi was quoted Tuesday by the semi-official Fars news agency as saying the immense size of the U.S. carriers makes them an "easy target." He said contingency plans to target American carriers are a priority for the Guard's naval forces.

"Aircraft carriers are the symbol of America's military might," he said. "The carriers are responsible for supplying America's air power. So, it's natural that we want to sink the carriers."

The Revolutionary Guard's naval forces are separate from the main Iranian navy. They are primarily based in and around the Gulf and include a number of missile boats and fast-attack vessels.

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FILE- In this file photo taken on April 3, 2006, members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard att …

The commander said the Guard navy has already carried out exercises targeting mock-ups of American warships. In one case, he said, it took 50 seconds to destroy one of the simulated warships.

Tasnim, another semi-official news agency close to the Guard, reported that "an investigation" has found that the Nimitz-class carriers used by the U.S. could be seriously damaged or destroyed if 24 missiles were fired simultaneously.

An American Navy official in the Gulf was dismissive of the Iranian claims, and of the simulated carrier in particular.

"Whatever Iran hopes to do with the mock-up, it is likely to have zero impact on U.S. Navy operations in the Gulf," said Cmdr. Jason Salata, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, which is based across the Gulf in the island kingdom of Bahrain.

"Firing weapons at a stationary structure floating on pontoons is not a realistic representation of having the capability to target a 100,000-ton warship ... maneuvering at speeds in excess of 30 knots," he said.

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FILE--In this file photo taken on Thursday, April 22, 2010, and released by the semi-official Irania …

Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren mocked the Iranian mock-up, saying he had seen a classified image that showed it listing to the side by about 30 degrees. "My guess is you could sink the mock-up in 50 seconds," he said.

Warren said the photo would not be publicly released. "We are wholly unconcerned about the Iranians' mock-up of an American ship," added.

Iran's military leaders believe future wars will be air and sea-based. Tehran has sought to upgrade its missile and air defense systems, as well as its naval forces in anticipation of such a possibility.

Fadavi, however, said the Guard's navy is in "daily" contact with passing American warships in the Persian Gulf.

"At the Guard Navy Command Control Center, we talk to Americans on a daily basis. This has been going on for years," Fadavi said.

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FILE-This file photo taken on Monday, Feb. 13, 2012 shows a U.S. F-18 fighter jet, left, land on the …

American naval forces in the region say they routinely monitor Iranian naval operations and frequently communicate with their Iranian counterparts.

Fadavi said Americans have formally demanded a hotline to contact Iranians in case of emergency but the Guard has turned down the request.

"Nothing (bad) will happen if they leave (the region)," he said.

___

Associated Press writer Adam Schreck contributed reporting from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and National Security Writer Robert Burns from Washington

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Iran naval chief offers warning to U.S. Navy

The admiral's words as Iran finishes a mockup of an American weapon are a stark contrast to his president's.
'Easy target'

KRAMATORSK/ODESSA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Both sides have been burying their dead as Ukraine slides further towards war, with supporters of Russia and of a united Ukraine accusing each other of tearing the country apart.

Tuesday was generally quieter than past days in most of eastern and southern Ukraine, but violence flared at dusk in the eastern port of Mariupol, where a spokesman for pro-Moscow militants told Russia's Itar-Tass news agency that one person was killed and three wounded in an attack on a checkpoint.

In Kramatorsk, a separatist-held town in the east that saw an advance by Ukrainian troops at the weekend, the coffin of 21-year-old nurse Yulia Izotova was carried through streets stilled by barricades of tires and tree trunks on Monday. Scattered red carnations traced the route.

At the Holy Trinity Church, seven priests led mourners in prayer for a woman killed by large caliber bullets, which the townsfolk believe were fired by Ukrainian troops.

"They shoot at us. Why? Because we don't want to live with fascists?" asked 58-year-old passport photographer Sergei Fominsky, standing with his wife among the mourners. "We're not slaves. We kneel to no one."

In Odessa, a previously peaceful, multi-ethnic Black Sea port where more than 40 people were killed on Friday in the worst day of violence since a February revolt toppled Ukraine's pro-Russian president, pall-bearers carried Andrey Biryukov's open casket from a van to the street corner where he was shot.

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Young Ukrainian recruits march near the infantry school in Donetsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. T …

A pro-Ukrainian activist, Biryukov, 35, was killed during a day that began with hundreds of pro-Russian sympathizers armed with axes, chains and guns attacking a Ukrainian march, and ended later that night with the pro-Russians barricaded inside a building that was set on fire, killing dozens.

A small crowd of about 50 people stood around the body, covering it with carnations and roses. A Ukrainian flag fluttered in the wind, and a patriotic song about dead heroes was played from a sound system.

Relatives wept and a young woman fell on her knees crying loudly. The corner where the man died was decorated with flowers and small Ukrainian flags.

"The government has failed to protect its own people. The police have failed miserably," said Nikita, a grizzled 56-year-old with a Ukrainian yellow and blue arm-band.

Sergei, in his 40s, who also came to mourn, said violence "was imported to Odessa".

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Pro-Russian gunmen hold their weapons as they try to block a military base of Ukrainian riot police …

"We were proud of Odessa as a unique place where people used to live in peace, regardless of their beliefs and religion and race," he said. "Now this is all gone."

In Mariupol, the main port for the eastern coal and steel region of the Donbass, pro-Moscow militants told Russian news agencies that one of their checkpoints on the outskirts was attacked late on Tuesday - by Ukrainian forces or by pro-Kiev militia - and they were preparing to repel further assaults.

Local Web site 0629.com.ua posted pictures of tires blazing outside the city council building and thick smoke pouring over the town center. Some streets were barricaded by buses.

The surge in violence has changed the tone of international diplomacy, with even cautious European states speaking increasingly of the likelihood of war in a country of around 45 million people the size of France.

"The bloody pictures from Odessa have shown us that we are just a few steps away from a military confrontation," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in interviews published in four European newspapers.

Crimean Tatar leader says Russia is trying to divi …Play Video

GOVERNMENT OFFENSIVE

The next few days could prove decisive: separatists in the eastern Donbass region say they will hold a referendum on secession on Sunday May 11, similar to the one that preceded Russia's annexation of Crimea.

The U.S. State Department denounced any attempt at a vote as "bogus" and promised more sanctions if Russia used it, as in Crimea, to send in forces or annex more territory: "This is the Crimea playbook all over again," a spokeswoman said.

Secretary of State John Kerry said he would meet ministers in Europe next week to discuss the next steps on Ukraine.

Two days before the vote, Friday May 9, is the annual Victory Day holiday celebrating the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany. Moscow has been openly comparing the government in Kiev to the Nazis, and Ukrainian officials say they are worried that the day could provoke violence. In Moscow, there will be a massive parade of military hardware through Red Square, a Soviet-era tradition revived by President Vladimir Putin.

Funeral of young nurse in UkrainePlay Video

The past few days have seen government forces press on with an offensive but make little progress in the east, where separatist rebels have so far held firm at their main outpost in the town of Slaviansk and shot down three Ukrainian helicopters.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on Tuesday more than 30 separatists had been killed in fighting around Slaviansk, but there was no confirmation of such a figure. The rebels, who triggered fighting in the area on Monday by ambushing government troops, said four of their number had been killed.

At roadblocks in the town, some armed fighters have been replaced by civilians, like Alexandra, in her late 20s, who said she leaves her 10-year-old daughter at home each morning, puts a starting pistol in her belt and walks to the barricades. The tactic of putting civilians at the front could make a government offensive more difficult.

"We have two options - to use heavy artillery ... wipe everything out, put the flag up and report that everything has been done. The second option is a gradual blockade, destroying provocateurs and sabotage to prevent injuries among the population. We are carrying out the second scenario," said acting defense minister Mykhailo Koval, explaining why the operation has taken so long and achieved so little.

Since a pro-European government took power after the uprising that toppled pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich, Putin overturned diplomatic convention by declaring Moscow's right to send troops across borders to protect Russian speakers.

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Mourners grieve at the coffin of Andriy Biryukov, a pro-Ukrainian activist killed in clashes on Frid …

In March, Russia seized and annexed Crimea, and in the weeks that followed, armed separatists have taken control of most of the Donbass, which accounts for around 15 percent of Ukraine's population and a third of industrial output.

Moscow has tens of thousands of troops massed on Ukraine's eastern frontier. The outbreak of violence in Odessa, hundreds of kilometers away near a Russian-occupied breakaway region of neighboring Moldova, means the unrest has spread across the breadth of southern and eastern Ukraine.

Western countries say Russian agents are directing the uprising and Moscow is stoking the violence with a campaign of propaganda, broadcast into Ukraine on Russian state channels, that depicts the government in Kiev as "fascists".

"Russia sometimes sounds as if it's refighting WW2. Fascism all over the place. Enemies everywhere. Ghosts of history mobilized," tweeted Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.

LIMITED SANCTIONS

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A tram passes a portrait of Andriy Biryukov, a pro-Ukrainian activist killed in clashes on Friday, a …

However, so far Western concern has not been matched by any serious action that might dissuade Putin. The United States and the European Union have imposed limited sanctions on lists of individual Russians and small firms, but have held back from measures designed to hurt Russia's economy broadly.

Nonetheless, a senior finance ministry official in Moscow said Russian GDP could shrink again this quarter.

NATO has made clear it will not fight to protect Ukraine, instead beefing up defenses of its nearby member states. NATO's top military commander, U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, said on Monday Russia had used special forces in eastern Ukraine and he now believed Moscow might be able to achieve its goals without resorting to a conventional invasion.

Western leaders have threatened to impose tougher sanctions on Russia if it interferes with presidential elections in Ukraine set for May 25, and most of their diplomacy has been centered around that date.

"If (the election) doesn't take place, there will be chaos and the risk of civil war," French President Francois Hollande said. "The Russians, Vladimir Putin, at the moment want this election not to happen so as to maintain the pressure. It's up to us to convince them."

Petro Poroshenko, a Ukrainian confectionery baron who is front-runner in the presidential election, said the vote would go ahead despite the unrest: "We hope that we will be able to complete the anti-terrorist operation before the election. And where we cannot do so - we will surround (those places) and not allow them to interfere with the election."

But Moscow has increasingly dismissed the prospect, suggesting it will not accept the winner of the vote any more than it accepts the interim government in power since February.

"Holding elections at a time when the army is deployed against part of the population is quite unusual," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference.

(Additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper in Kiev and Randall Palmer in Ottawa; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Giles Elgood and Alastair Macdonald)

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