Nouakchott/Tel Aviv - Gunmen opened fire at the Israeli
embassy in Mauritanian capital Nouakchott before dawn Friday,
Israeli officials said.
The gunmen shouted 'God is Great' in Arabic and engaged in a
brief gunbattle with Mauritanian soldiers guarding the embassy,
Israeli Ambassador to Mauritania Boaz Bismut said.
He said no one was injured at the embassy. But one person was
injured outside, 'apparently nearby.'
The Israeli ambassador said the gunfire at about 2:20 am woke him
and his staff up.
The attack came after widespread demonstrations in the Islamic
republic against Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip, which he said
was widely covered in the local media in a 'blunt and I would even
say exaggerated' way.
The protesters demanded the West African nation cut off its
diplomatic ties with Israel.
'All the people at the embassy, both Mauritanians and Israelis,
are ok,' Bismut told Israel Radio.
'The gunfire was heard very well,' he said, adding 'it lasted
several minutes.'
He later told Israel Army Radio 'Israel and Mauritania have had
full diplomatic relations since 1999 - both countries understand the
severity of the incident.'
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni telephoned Bismut and
Foreign Ministry Director Aharon Abramovitch said Israel's ties with
Mauritania were 'important' to the Jewish state. He expressed hope
they would be broadened further in the future, as a result of the
renewed peace process with the Palestinians.
Apart from Egypt and Jordan, Mauritania is the only member of the
Arab League to have full diplomatic relations with Israel.
The attack came weeks after organizers cancelled the Lisbon-Dakar
Rally due to security concerns following the December 24 killing of
four French tourists while picnicking in Mauritania.
The government blamed the incident on Islamist militants linked to
a branch of al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb.
The 30th Dakar Rally was to have passed through Mauritania between
January 11 and January 19. It was the first time in the 30-year
history of the rally across the deserts of north Africa that the
race was cancelled.
An Israeli delegation was scheduled to travel to Mauritania Friday
morning to evaluate the security at the embassy.
Israeli embassies have a history of attacks and security at them
is among the tightest in the world.
In July, 2004, the Israeli ambassador's personal bodyguard and
four local policemen were killed in a dual suicide bombing outside
the Israeli and American embassies in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
In the deadliest such attack on an Israeli representation, a truck
bomb in Buenos Aires in March 1992 killed 28 people, among them four
Israelis and four local personnel, and injured some 300 others.
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