Qaeda claims Mauritanian murder

2007-12-29 22:47

Ahmed Mohamed

Nouakchott - An Algeria-based terror network has claimed responsibility for the killing of soldiers in Mauritania, according to an audiotape played on an Arabic television station on Saturday.

Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya aired the audio tape in which a man identifies himself as the spokesperson of al-Qaeda in Islamic North Africa and claims responsibility for the attack on soldiers at a checkpoint in the country's north.

The authenticity of the tape could not immediately be confirmed and several details did not tally with government accounts.

According to Mauritanian authorities, three soldiers were killed on Thursday but the alleged spokesperson of the terror network claims responsibility for the killing of four soldiers a day earlier, in line with initial online reports.

In the audio, the speaker says: "The branch of al-Qaeda in North Africa claims responsibility for the attack in Ghallawiya which cost the lives of at least four Mauritanian soldiers."

A military official, who asked not to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the press, said that troops were being dispatched sent to the country's north and east to try to catch the attackers. Military airplanes were surveying the area, he said.

Mauritania's government has declared the killings a terrorist act.

'Sleeper cell'

Mohamed Ould Aboulmaaly, the editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper "Nouakchott Info" and a regional expert on terrorism, said he believed it was an al-Qaeda attack.

It came four days after four French tourists were shot dead by the side of a road. The government blamed those shootings on a terror "sleeper cell" belonging to the Algeria-based terror network.

Mauritania is an Islamic republic that, until elections earlier this year, was ruled by a series of dictators. But despite the nation's lack of basic freedoms, Mauritania has never been a breeding ground for terrorists, with attacks on Westerners almost unheard of.

In an effort to safeguard the nation's moderate image, the country's leading Islamic authority issued a fatwa, or religious decree, on Saturday condemning the killings of the four French tourists.

"Islam categorically rejects this crime," said Sheikh Mohamed Hassan Ould Dedew, the spiritual guide of Mauritania's Muslims. "This despicable act constitutes one of the gravest offences in the eyes of Islam."

- AP