[Pak Daily Times] Mauritania's President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has pardoned and freed from prison 15 convicted Islamist extremists to mark the end of Ramazan, the West African country's justice ministry said on Thursday.
A further 20 Islamist prisoners awaiting trial were also pardoned as a gesture to celebrate Eid. "This measure is in keeping with the spirit of tolerance which the President invoked at the start of the month of Ramazan," the justice minister said. Mauritania is one of several countries in the vast Sahel region in which al Qaeda's north African wing, known as AQIM, is known to operate. |