Tourists' murder 'well planned'

2007-12-30 18:22

Nouakchott - Last week's murder of four French tourists in Mauritania and the assailants' subsequent flight had been meticulously planned, with the victims tracked for hours, a security official said on Sunday.

One of the assailants was also well known in the southern Mauritanian town of Aleg, where he had been seen at a bank at midday December 24 as the tourists were changing money shortly before their death, the official added.

The claims came a day after Mauritania announced the arrest of three new suspects in the killings, bringing to eight the number of people detained in connection with the affair.

Mauritania claims three nationals suspected in last Monday's shooting death of the four French tourists had links to al-Qaeda. A fifth French tourist survived.

The three Mauritanians remained at large, and police had launched a hunt to find them in Mauritania, as well as in neighbouring Mali and Senegal.

"All the elements lead one to think it was a premeditated act and apparently well prepared, with collaborators in Aleg who were tasked to assure the protection and organise the flight of the criminals," said the security official.

After the killings, the three spent the night in a small Senagalese border village before heading to the town of Richard Toll, also in Senegal, said an investigator said.

The French foreign ministry had warned tourists against travelling to Mauritania for the moment, and several leading French operators had temporarily suspended tours to the West African country, known for its spectacular desert.

Three Mauritanian soldiers were also killed during an armed ambush in the northeast part of the country on Thursday.

- AFP