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| Africa North |
| Mauritania sentences Qaeda suspects to death |
| 2010-05-26 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] A court in Mauritania on Tuesday sentenced three young Al-Qaeda members to death for the 2007 murders of four French tourists. "The court has decided to sentence to death Mohamed Ould Chabarnou, Maarouf Ould Haiba and Sidi Ould Sidna," court president Ould Khaya said in Arabic as he read out the verdict. The judge and his two assessors deliberated for several hours before delivering the sentences. It was the first time in 20 years that the death penalty has been applied in Mauritania. The defendants were accused of shooting five French tourists on Dec. 24, 2007 near the city of Aleg in southern Mauritania. Four died and the fifth was seriously wounded. They pleaded not guilty to the murders but presented themselves as "soldiers of al-Qaeda", acknowledging that they had been "trained in camps" of the organisation. The three were on trial alongside 16 other al-Qaeda suspects as part of efforts by the governments of Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Niger to counter a wave of recent desert kidnappings of foreigners claimed by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. "This ruling is completely unjust. The case found no tangible evidence at all," said Mohamed Ould Haiba, the father of one of the convicted, confirming plans for an appeal. The last execution in Mauritania was in 1987 and carried out on three officers sentenced for attempting to overthrow the government of Maaouiya Ould Taya. The death of the French tourists shook the country, which had a reputation of warmly welcoming visitors. Key word..."had". A few days afterwards the Paris-Dakar motor rally, which passes through the Saharan nation, was cancelled just before it was due to begin. |
| Posted by:Fred |