The sultan of Sokoto, the spiritual leader of Nigeria's Muslims, has condemned the military crackdown against the Islamist Boko Haram sect.
"We cannot solve violence with violence," Mohamed Sa'ad Abubakar told a meeting of religious leaders.
The Boko Haram, based in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, says it is fighting for Islamic rule.
It has been behind recent assassinations of prominent figures and a wave of bombings.
Two years ago, Nigeria's security forces brutally suppressed an uprising by the sect, destroying its compound in Maiduguri - the capital of Borno state - and then capturing and killing its leader Mohammed Yusuf.
Instead of disappearing, the group, which opposes Western education and is fighting for Islamic rule, re-emerged last September and vowed to avenge its leader's death.
Last month, it said it had carried out an attack on the headquarters of the Nigerian police in Abuja, which killed at least six people.
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