– FRENCH EMBASSY IN MAURITANIA ATTACKED

 

A suicide bomber blew himself up Late Saturday 08/08/2009 in front of the French embassy in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott wounding two French citizen guards. 

The bomber, who died in the explosion, had a belt laden with explosives, police said, and staged the explosion a little before 19:00 pm near the wall of the French embassy complex.

 

The French embassy said the two guards were hospitalized after the attack but were only being treated for shock and had not suffered any injuries. It was not immediately known who was behind the attack.

The attack came three days after Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who toppled Mauritania’s first democratically elected leader in a military coup last year, was sworn in as president of the Saharan country after winning an election last month.

Defeated opponents have denounced the poll as a fraud, but France said it was ready to re-engage with the Islamic state, which has pledged to make the fight against Al Qaeda a policy priority.

 

Mauritanian authorities have blamed MAGHREB al-Qaeda, which has been active in several north-western African states, for previous attacks. 

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