| [Straits Times] Mauritanian gendarmes on Monday arrested a Mali national for alleged involvement in the abduction of an Italian couple last week near the Malian border, local and international press reported on Tuesday (December 22nd). According to Nouakchott daily ANI, suspect Abderrahmane Ben Meddou confessed that in return for the promise of a large pay-off, he provided information to al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb about the movement of the Italians. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the kidnappings. |