MAURITANIAN AUTHORITIES IDENTIFY A SUSPECT IN

S E C R E T NOUAKCHOTT 000113

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2012
TAGS: PTER PREL ASEC CASC MR
SUBJECT: MAURITANIAN AUTHORITIES IDENTIFY A SUSPECT IN
CONNECTION WITH THE ISRAELI EMBASSY ATTACK

Classified By: Ambassador Mark M. Boulware for reasons 1.4 (B and d)


1. (SBU) On February 25 the Public Prosecutor officially
accused one Al Khadim Ould Semane of participating in the
February 1 attack on the Israeli embassy. Semane is a known
activist for Al Qaeda who escaped from Nouakchott central
prison in 2005 and fled the country immediately afterward.
The two participants in the December 24 attack on French
tourists near Aleg, Mauritania -- currently in police custody
in Nouakchott -- confirmed to police that Ould Semane had
visited Mauritania several times after his escape from prison
to plan attacks in the country. The Public Prosecutor
accused Ould Semane of participating in a terrorist
organization, carrying illegal firearms and explosives,
participating in offenses against national security, and the
use of national territory for launching terrorist attacks
against another country. All of the charges were brought
against Ould Semane under article 846 of the Mauritanian
anti-terrorist law.


2. (SBU) Mauritanian authorities have made a number of
arrests during the course of their investigation into the
Israeli Embassy attack. Nine known Salafists were arrested
in mid-February on suspicion that they either supported the
attackers, or directly participated in the attack. The
attorney general ruled later that there was not enough
evidence to specifically link seven of the nine suspects to
the attack, and they were subsequently released. The judge
in charge of investigating the case disagreed and ordered the
seven men to be rearrested twenty-four hours later. The
accused have now been transferred to the custody of the
National Guard while a thorough investigation is conducted.
Separately, the other two Salafists were due to be
transferred to National Guard custody in late February 2008
for their possible role in the attack on the Embassy.


3. (S) Comment: The Mauritanian Government is seriously
pursuing the investigation into the February 1 attack against
the Israeli Embassy. In our exchanges with the Mauritanian
security services, it was understood that the immediate
post-attack arrests were of "the usual suspects" to determine
if they had any information concerning the attack. There was
little expectation that all had been involved in the attack
and our assessment is that the prosecutor's decision to
release seven of the nine at the end of the two week
questioning period allowed by law was justified. The cases
of the remaining three suspects are likely directly related
to the attack. The court's decision to overturn the
prosecutor's decision to release seven of the nine suspects
is an interesting turnaround from the court's decision in
2007 to dismiss terrorism cases -- indicative of a greater
awareness in the judiciary of the terrorist threat and a
desire not to be seen as "soft on terrorism" as actual
attacks have shaken national confidence in the judiciary.
End Comment.
Boulware