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| Africa: North |
| Zarqawi behind Mauritanian coup attempt |
| 2004-08-12 |
| The authorities in Mauritania yesterday detained the leader of an Islamic opposition over suspicion of being involved in the coup attempt which Nouakchott said that opposition Islamists and army officers were planning for. The authorities linked between the planners of the coup and the threats made by one of the "Islamists" groups in one of its sites on the Internet on July 29 to Nouakchott because of its relations with Israel. In its statement on the Internet, the group which called itself " the Jihad - Tawhid group, Omar al-Mukhtar groups " said " we will attack with an iron fist all hireling Arab governments which deal with the Zionists in open or in secret." The statement in particular mentioned Libya and Mauritania and threatened to attack the government in Mauritania which it said it meets " with Zionists in front of TV cameras." The defense minister in Mauritanian, Baba Weld Seidi, told journalists that there is a link between this threat which he said that the presumed leader in al-Qaida organization Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is behind and the coup plan, in addition to the formation of a new opposition front abroad. The police in Nouakchott yesterday detained the Islamic opposition member Muhammad Jamil Weld Mansour before his release and broke into his house over suspicion of his involvement in the coup attempt. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |