Mauritania rejects Al-Qaeda demands

Mauritanian Foreign Minister Hamadi Ould Hamadi stated that his country’s authorities would not respond to the demands of the Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Arab Maghreb (AQIM) in return for releasing Mauritanian gendarme Ely Ould Mokhtar, who was kidnapped from north Nouakchott about a month ago. The minister added, in a press statement on the sidelines of the meeting held by Foreign Minister of West African states in Nouakchott, that the kidnapped gendarme was no different than “dozens of Mauritanian soldiers who paid their lives in defence of their countries facing terrorist criminal gangs.” “The kidnapped gendarme Ould Mokhtar, upon joining the national gendarmerie corps, was aware of the possibility of his martyrdom in defence of his country, which is why he joined the army,” he added. Mauritania yielded to similar demands two years ago when Spanish hostages were kidnapped, and was sharply criticised by Algeria. To that, Ould Hamadi said that Mauritania did not and would never accept any foreign interference in its internal affairs and decisions, explaining that the previous swap was a deal reached between Mali and Mauritania in the framework of security cooperation between the two countries. A Mauritanian initiative titled “We Are All Ould Mokhtar” denounced the government’s position, saying in a statement that they consider “abandoning the kidnapped gendarme Ely Ould Mokhtar signifies abandoning all Mauritanian soldiers thrown into an illegal war.” The statement considered the Foreign Minister’s stance and announcement to “give up” the gendarme as “irresponsible and cowardly”. The initiative called on human rights activists and media to support Ould Mokhtar’s case, and renewed its call for the Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to work on releasing the kidnapped gendarme as soon as possible.