Who has claimed responsibility for the murder of American aid worker, Christopher Leggett in Mauritania?
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
