Nouakchott, 17 Jan. (AKI - Mauritanian police have arrested two suspected Islamic terrorists in the Sahara desert who were travelling in a car close to the border with neighbouring Morocco. Both men are Moroccan citizens, and had a large quantity of explosives as well as a state-of-the-art computer and an unspecified amount of euros in their vehicle, according to Mauritanian security sources, quoted by Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai al-Am. The arrests, announced on Tuesday but believed to have been made last Thursday, appear to indicate the continuing presence of al-Qaeda linked terrorists in the country.
In the past few months, Moroccan police have made numerous arrests of suspected al-Qaeda linked terrorists operating in the Sahara desert. In December, Moroccan security forces operating in the area of the Sahara between Morocco and Mauritania smashed an alleged terror cell that they believe had contacts with Algerian and Libyan Salafite groups seeking to create a pan-North African al-Qaeda cell. After the Decembers arrests, the Moroccan and Mauritanian authorities decided to strengthen their cooperation over security in a bid to thwart suspected Islamic terrorists operating in the Sahara. |