MAURITANIA ORDERS ISREALI EMBASSY STAFF OUT OF THE COUNTRY(48HR DEADLINE)

Mauritania orders Israeli embassy staff out
Friday, 6 March 2009 14:31
Mauritania has ordered staff at Israel’s embassy to leave the country within 48 hours after freezing ties with the Jewish state over its invasion of Gaza.

Diplomatic relations between Mauritania, one of only three Arab countries to have full ties with the Jewish state, have been strained since Israel launched a military offensive in Gaza in December.

A senior Mauritanian official said ‘the Mauritanian authorities have given staff at the Israeli embassy in Nouakchott 48 hours to leave the country’.

AdvertisementAnother official close to Mauritanian military ruler General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz said the decision to expel the Israeli diplomats follows the January move to freeze relations with the state.

‘This is the logical consequence of the freezing of relations between Israel and Mauritania … there is nothing new,’ another official close to Mauritanian military ruler General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, said, declining to be identified.

Staff were seen leaving the embassy in Nouakchott today.

Abdel Aziz announced the decision to freeze relations at a summit of Arab nations in Doha, Qatar, in January.

Qatar said at the time that it would freeze its own relations with Israel, which are at a lower level than full diplomatic ties.

An Israeli Foreign Ministry official, who also declined to be identified, said Israel had not been officially informed by Mauritania of plans to expel its ambassador.

‘We don’t know what is happening there exactly. We are still checking. They did not tell us they intend to expel our ambassador,’ he said.

He added that the timing of the decision could be linked to a planned visit to Nouakchott by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. ‘Maybe they are just showing they’re tough,’ the official said.

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