MAURITANIA: 2008 COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM

UNCLAS NOUAKCHOTT 000733

SIPDIS

S/CT: RHONDA SHORE
NCTC WASHINGTON DC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER ASEC MR
SUBJECT: MAURITANIA: 2008 COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM

REF: A. STATE 120019

B. STATE 124815


1. (U) Post's submission for the "2008 Country Reports on
Terrorism" (Refs A and B) follows in paragraph 2. Post's
primary point of contact is PolAsst Christopher Coffey
(coffeycm@state.gov). Post's secondary point of contact is
Charge Dennis Hankins (hankinsdb@state.gov).


2. (U) AQIM continued to represent the primary terrorist
threat to Mauritania. After two spontaneous, fatal attacks
in late December 2007, AQIM significantly increased its
level of activity and severity of attacks in 2008.

On February 1, six gunmen attacked the Israeli embassy and
an adjacent nightclub in Nouakchott. No one was killed,
but three foreigners were injured. AQIM claimed
responsibility for the attack, and all the perpetrators
were later arrested by Mauritanian security forces.

In April, one of the suspects in the attack on French
tourists in December 2007 escaped from the main Nouakchott
courthouse. This led to an intensive manhunt that
culminated in a pitched gun battle between Mauritanian
security forces and several suspected terrorists who had
holed up in a house. A police inspector and two suspects
were killed in the shootout, and several were wounded. The
remaining suspects managed to escape, though several were
later arrested, including the suspect who had escaped from
the courthouse. Based on these arrests and other ongoing
investigations, Mauritanian security forces discovered a
villa in Nouakchott stocked with weapons and explosives.

On August 6, General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz launched a
bloodless coup against democratically-elected President
Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi. This affront to
civilian rule resulted in USG suspension of all
non-humanitarian assistance, including counterterrorism
military training, to the junta-led Mauritanian
government. When General Aziz pledged to spare no effort
in fighting terrorism, AQIM released an internet message
stating the coup was against the will of the people, and
called on Mauritanians to take up arms against the military
leadership.

On September 15, an ambush on a military convoy near the
remote northern village of Tourine resulted in the deaths
of 11 soldiers and a civilian guide. The attack was
particularly gruesome, with the attackers decapitating the
soldiers and mining their bodies with explosives. AQIM
claimed responsibility for the attack.

The lawless eastern and northern regions of Mauritania
continued to be a haven for smugglers and terrorists. The
porous borders with Algeria, Mali, and Western Sahara posed
ongoing challenges for the underequipped and underfunded
Mauritanian security services. A new counterterrorism
force, which received USG training and assistance before
the coup, was rushed into deployment in October in an
attempt to bolster Mauritania's northern defenses in the
wake of the Tourine attack. This new counterterrorism
force is untested in combat as of December 2008.

The Mauritanian government arrested approximately 90 terror
suspects during 2007 and 2008 combined. Around 60 of these
suspects were arrested in April 2008 during the massive
manhunt for the escaped suspect in the attack on French
tourists. All suspects from that attack were arrested (or
rearrested) and are in custody as of December 2008.

HANKINS