WHat tragedy happened in NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania to make headlines in the news?
Al-Jazeera TV said Al-Qaida’s North Africa branch claimed responsibility Thursday for the killing of an American aid worker who was shot dead this week in Mauritania’s capital. The Arab satellite TV station said it had received an audio statement from al-Qaida of the Islamic Maghreb in which the group said 39-year-old Christopher Ervin Leggett was killed Tuesday for allegedly trying to convert Muslims to Christianity. “Two knights of the Islamic Maghreb succeeded Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. to kill the infidel American Christopher Leggett for his Christianizing activities,” the group said. The statement’s authenticity could not be independently verified. Mauritania’s Interior Ministry said Thursday it was investigating the death and security forces were doing “all they can to catch the criminals.” Extremist violence in Mauritania, a moderate Muslim nation, has increased in recent years. In 2007, a group of French picnickers was killed. The gunmen were believed to be linked to al-Qaida’s
Nouakchott – A group of youths shot dead an American man on Tuesday in the centre of the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, a police source said. The man, whom investigators said ran a private language and computer school, was shot several times in the head from close range after he resisted an apparent kidnap attempt, a witness told AFP. Al-Qaeda militants were blamed for the killing of four French tourists in Mauritania on December 24, 2007 that heightened concerns about extremist attacks in the country. The latest shooting happened outside the school run by the American and close to a mosque at about 8.30am (08.30GMT). “A foreigner has been shot dead, apparently by youths who fled. We are investigating the case,” the police source said, adding that the victim was an American and that US embassy officials were at the scene. According to a resident who witnessed the incident, the man apparently tried to resist being bundled into a black Toyota car by a group of youths. “When they failed
TV: Al-Qaida says it killed American in Mauritania NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (AP) — Al-Jazeera TV said Al-Qaida’s North Africa branch claimed responsibility Thursday for the killing of an American aid worker who was shot dead this week in Mauritania’s capital. The Arab satellite TV station said it had received an audio statement from al-Qaida of the Islamic Maghreb in which the group said 39-year-old Christopher Ervin Leggett was killed Tuesday for allegedly trying to convert Muslims to Christianity. Sources: http://www.google.
