French tour company resumes Mauritania operations

2009-11-18 Point Afrique will resume charter flights to the Mauritanian desert city of Atar next month, the French tour operator announced on Tuesday (November 17th). The company suspended Mauritania operations after four French tourists were murdered while camping near Aleg in late December 2007. The slaying also prompted the relocation of the Paris-Dakar rally.

Morocco seeks closer ties with Mauritania

2009-11-17 Moroccan Foreign Affairs Taieb Fassi-Fihri met with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz in Nouakchott on Monday (November 16th) to discuss bilateral relations, Journal Tahalil reported. "Morocco wants to further strengthen and diversify co-operation with Mauritania to bring it to the highest level," Fassi-Fihri said. He also delivered a message from King Mohammed VI in which the monarch noted the many opportunities for closer bonds between the Maghreb neighbours.

Mauritania touts counter-terror operations near Mali border

2009-11-17 Mauritanian security forces took reporters on their first-ever tour of counter-terrorism operations in the restive desert region of Adrar on Friday (November 13th), ANI reported.

Adrar is the country's most popular tourist destination but also the infiltration point for Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb terrorists from Mali. The 2008 kidnapping and subsequent beheading of 11 Mauritanian soldiers in Aklet Tourine spurred Mauritania to create a special military unit in the north-eastern province. Ever since the Mauritanian Special Forces (GSI) cordoned off the area, "all infiltration areas have been fully identified [and] illegal activities have come to a complete halt," said GSI Commander Sidi Ahmed.

To handle the difficult desert conditions, GSI operatives receive special survival training and learn to master driving in the sand dunes without GPS navigation. An outreach strategy with nomads has also benefitted military counter-terrorism operations in the sparsely-populated region, the GSI officer explained.

"To ensure that the nomads provide information to the army, not the enemy, a support program has been implemented. The GSI facilitates their access to water and medical care and buys their livestock, which dispenses with the need for them to make long trips to the city and ensures their income," he said. "Our intelligence capabilities are enhanced."

Mauritania holds anti-slavery workshop for police, justice officials

2009-11-16 Mauritania held a workshop on Sunday (November 15th) to educate law enforcement and justice officials on slavery-related issues, DPA reported. The Nouakchott training session targets more effective implementation of the law criminalising slavery, Human Rights Minister Mohamed al-Amin Walid Aldadah was quoted as saying. In the beginning of November, a UN mission determined that slavery practices persist in Mauritania despite their formal abolition in 2007.

Mauritania arrests 34 harragas along Morocco border

2009-11-12 Mauritanian security services arrested 34 African would-be immigrants along the border with Morocco, 55km north of Nouadhibou, international press reported. The immigrants, who came from Mali, Senegal and Guinea, reportedly tried to enter Morocco but were chased back to Mauritania by Moroccan border guards. The harragas will stay in an immigrant centre in Nouadhibou before being repatriated.

Mauritania hosts European Union, West Africa fisheries conference

2009-11-11 A conference on EU-West Africa fisheries agreements opened in Nouakchott on Tuesday (November 10th), PANA reported. The 3-day meeting is attended by some fifty professionals in the fisheries sector from Sub-Regional Commission on Fisheries member nations Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Discussions will focus on European fishing policy reform, partnership agreements, artisanal fisheries and other issues.

Mauritanian NGOs receive US grant

2009-11-10 The US African Development Foundation (USADF) has granted development assistance funds to eight Mauritanian NGOs in Adrar, Kaédi, Guidimakha, M' Boutt and Nouakchott, ANI reported on Monday (November 9th). "By providing a combination of USADF grant money and business administration training to Mauritanian entrepreneurs, we are helping to create new businesses, new jobs, and new opportunities in Mauritania," US Ambassador Mark Boulware said.

Mauritania Parliament session opens with call for political unity

2009-11-10 The Mauritanian Parliament opened the 2009-2010 session on Monday (November 9th) with calls for reconciliation and unity, local press reported. In his opening address, National Assembly President and former presidential candidate Messaoud Ould Boulkheir said that the country's future stability depends on support for democratic institutions and administrative reform. Mauritania's political actors need to learn the lessons of the post-coup constitutional crisis, he noted. Senate speaker Ba Mamadou M'Bare also called for dialogue between the government and the opposition, Journal Tahalil reported.

Al Jazeera reporters arrested in Mauritania

2009-11-09 Mauritanian authorities on Sunday (November 8th) released three journalists for Qatari satellite television channel Al Jazeera after two days in jail, state news agency AMI reported. According to the Mauritanian Communication Ministry, one Iraqi and two Mauritanians arrived in Nouakchott on November 3rd to allegedly conduct economic and social surveys in Mauritania. The Al Jazeera office in Nouakchott was reportedly unaware of the team or its mission. Following an investigation, the reporters admitted that the real reason for their visit was to investigate al-Qaeda terrorists in Mali.