Al Quaida claims the kidnapping of two Italians:

Yesterday in a recorded tape, Al Quaida in the Maghrib has claimed the responsibility over the kidnapping of an Italian couple (Sergio Cicalla and his wife Filomini Kaboré ) who were travelling from Italia to Burkina Fasso using the road route.

The couple went missing when their car was found empty and bearing a trace of bullet fire near Aioun in the south east of Mauritania.

Eye witnesses said that “three men using a van fired on the tyre of the Italian’s car to prevent them from fleeing and then a fight between the couple and the armed men broke up and lasted minutes before the armed men can take over using their guns”.
In the tape, the two kidnapped Italians appeared sitting somewhere in the desert and tied handed, no comment of them was recorded, while a statement is broadcasted defining this Kidnapping operation as a response to the crimes the Italian’s army are making in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the Italian’s authorities are refusing any dialog with the terrorists, or paying any ransom, and describing such move as against their principle and will only legalise the terrorism and encourage the terrorist carry on doing their dirty job.

Free Hanavi Ould Dahah:

Hanavi is the owner of the site http://www.taqadoumy.com/ which’s one of the best online news web sites today in Mauritania. Hanavi was sentenced for six months prison following his article about Mr Sarr’s 2007 presidential campaign financing which’s allegedly misused.
Throwing a journalist in jail only for his articles is already a clear breach of the national and international laws. And keeping him in prison after spending his sentence is worse and unacceptable in a democratic country so free Hanavi now.

Hanavi is a pioneer of the online web sites news in Mauritania that’s why his future is linked to the future of this new trend in Mauritania and above all that the future of the freedom of speech and opinion in the country. So free Hanavi now.

Is Mauritania going to choose Morocco rather than Algeria?

During the last parliament's session the MP of Akjoujt, made a hint which says that "we (Mauritania) should have a good ties with Moroccan authorities and relinquish our recognition of Polisario front (the front for liberation of the Saharan territory)".
This statement came days after the visit made by the Maurianian ambassador in Morocco to the disputed region (Sahara) during which he made statements praising the Moroccan authorities for the efforts they're making in order to develop the region.
All that is seen by the opposition here in Mauritania as a new and dangerous direction taken by the current Mauritanian president, which will end up making Mauritania take side and be part in the conflict, rather than remaining a neutral country which was always its position in the past.
Also, the opposition warned the current government from causing a new conflict to our already weak country, especially in these days, which is marred by a serious assaults and attacks organized by Al Quaeda across our territory.
A comment from the presidency is expected very soon unless they have really decided to choose the Marocan side rather than the Algerian one.

Sudanese president is in Nouakchott:

Today, the Sudanese president is expected to visit Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital for a three days visit during which he is going to discuss with his Mauritanian canter-part Mr. Mohamed Ould Abdel Azize, the best ways to strengthen the diplomatic and economics ties between the two countries.

Besides the fact that Sudan is an Arabic and African country, Sudan also is a big oil exporter, and has a flourishing agricultural sector so the visit of its leader to Mauritania must be very well welcomed by all the Mauritanian people.

In our part, we as an editor and chief of this blog are joining the rest of the Mauritanian people to wish the Sudanese president a good time in our country.

Aminatou Haidar is back to El Aioune :

Two months ago, Aminatou Haidar the Saharawi militant who refuses the Moroccan paper, was denied boarding from Spain to her birth town “El Aioune”(South to Morocco ) by the Moroccan authorities until she obeys by the Moroccan law which’s applied on all the Moroccan citizen.

Aminatou who doesn’t agree with the fact that Western Sahara is a Moroccan territory refused taking Moroccan passport and went through a hunger strike for more than a month in order to make the world listen to her case.

At the end the Moroccan authority accepted to let Aminetou back to her homeland, to prevent the situation from going out of control.

In the other hand Aminatou, the mother of two, has called upon the world for help in order for her and her follow citizen to gain independence from Morocco, and she described her land as the last occupied territory in the free world.

In Guinea: Dadis Camara, the chief of the junta is nearly killed:

A few weeks ago Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara the chief of the junta which took power in Guinea after the death of the former president Mr Lassana Conte, was targeted and nearly killed by his personal guard chief, Lit Toumba. Minutes before the attack, a harsh dispute broke up between the two men over the responsibilities following the September 28th massacre.

It’s thought that the September 28th massacre, which has seen the Guinean army goes in a rampage against an unarmed civilians who were protesting peacefully against the junta, has caused the death of more than 150 persons,

Until now the main reason behind the shooting is that Mr. Toumba didn’t want to bear alone the whole responsibility of the massacre, and he argued that “as a soldier, he is only following his chief’s order, so his chief should be tried before him”.

Today, Capt. Dadis is still recovering from his wounds in a Moroccan hospital, while Toumba is hiding somewhere in Guinea or its neighbours.

Meanwhile, the situation in Guinea remains very tight, the army is at edge and the search for Toumba and his allies is going on.

Health care system in Mauritania:

I have just heard that the Ministry of education in Mauritania have just decided to shut down the first private medical school in the country, and that draws my attention to the bad situation the sector is scrumbling into, which reflects in it self the mismanagement, the mess and the countless which’s going on in the country for many years now.
Today no one even trusts our doctors, that’s why, today more and more people prefer dying on their beds "if they don't have enough money to travel abroad" to go and seek treatment in the local hospital.
In our local hospital, the surgeons are keen to cut off people in order to train themselves and make money, so whatever the disease from which you’re suffering, they will start advocating you, the good side of going through a surgery, and once you agree with them, and they cut you off, your life is over for sure, because they don’t know why nor how to fix the wounds they will create, and it will become a matter of days for you.
When it comes to the medicine it is almost the same story, the pharmacies are full with the faked drugs and the authorities don’t have the necessary means which can allow them to check for the faked drug before it crosses our borders.
All that, show how our health care system is really in a big chaos, so people are expecting a lot from the current president who is really working hard in order to fix the situation, and we all should be helpful.

The UM 24 billion affair:

These days the anti-financial fraud police are investigating into the disappearance of more than UM 24 billion from the national reserves accounts between 2001 and 2002 when Mr. Sidi El Mokhtar Ould Nagi was the secretary of the institution.

The ongoing enquiries have already caused the jail of the top suspects "Mr. Sidi El Mokhtar and the then his deputy" and the hearing of almost all the big financial magnate in the country.

According to an Arabic web site the disappeared amount was wired for no clear reason to many different national financial institutions and banks during Mr. Sidi El Mokhtar mandate and never sent back to the national reserves accounts.

As a matter of fact, this case has sparked a wave of concerns and fears beyond the national reserves, and people have started thinking about the repercussion of digging all the past money embezzlement cases can have on the stability they’re enjoying. And the people see the current move as a dangerous backward step which could end up putting behind bars many important personalities.

A new law for the public service in Mauritania:

This new law is very well welcomed among the working people; because it will raise the age limit for the recruitment in the public sector, from 30 to 40 years old, make the retirement age at 65 instead of 60 and alleviate many old recruitment rules.

Before this law, many well qualified young Mauritanians were obliged to head toward the lawless private sector one’s they’re more than thirty and support it in order to make a living.

Now, all that is over, everyone will have enough time to apply at any job he desires; and also the government can hire a qualified and experienced people as long as they’re less than forty.

So the public service is no more, that golden job which requires luck, talent, and interventions in order to get.

The president made an unannounced visit to Arafat:

Now, for more than two decades, we never saw nor heard about such an amazing thing, a sitting president who visits secretly the offices of the main public services (hospitals, schools, government buildings …etc) in order to check for the services they are offering to the people. By doing such an amazing thing this president proved one’s again that, he is here to serve people, lift up the country and put people interest first.
Undoubtedly, this visit will make the employees do their job correctly, and will bring back the trust, the people have lost toward their country.
Above all that, this way of managing will boost the country’s economy and make it flourish and expand more, which’s the best way of tackling the current rampant poverty.

At the end, I have a short message which i'd like to send to the opposition, which’s, please let the president do his job, and no more baseless critics.

The 2009 senate election:

The renewal of the first part of the senate (Group A) was the first real test for Ould Abdel Azize since his election as a president of the country a three months ago. This approval test brought up what we all felt since the first step of Ould Abdel Azize in the office, which’s a sharp rise in his popularity all across the country due to the rate of the promise kept (during the presidential campaign) to those failed untill now which are almost none. Throughout this campaign we heard about buying vote, which’s nowadays a common ground all over the world but never about vote rigging or government meddling even during the operation.
In the other hand, this election has a big loser, which's called Messoud Ould Boulkhai the leader of the opposition, who in his first press meeting accused his allies of double crossing him in favour of the ruling party.
But according to all the people we cross, this trend will carry on for sure, if the president keeps cleansing the country from those bad guys who waste our resources and cause famine and starvation to our people.

Noukta-Sakhina : the second hand cell phone market

In Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, there is no market nor a mall which is more crowded or has much activities than the second hand cell phone market which’s called “Noukta-Sakhina”. People from different ages and background are mixing with each other, some for buying other for selling and around them shops filled with all kind of cell-phone brand, new and used one, behind these shops, there are others for repairing the damaged one.
Today, this market play a major role in the society by allowing unemployed young men making their end meet lawfully, so they won’t fall easily in the hand of the criminal gangs. A police station is created inside “Noukta-Sakhina” in order to solve peacefully any dispute which could occur at any time, and keep security around. But when you visit “Noukta-Sakhina” you should be carefull because a lot of pick-pocketers are strolling around and disguised fake cell-phone are for sale everywhere.

How can we accept that our foreign affairs staff being formed by the Libyans?

It’s true that Libya has huge financial resources due to its oil and gas output, and it’s also true that we in sub-Sahara Africa are in dire need for aids and investment, but should we allow ourselves senseless gestures in order to get those aids. Why I’m asking this question? Because how can a country with very bad ties with almost all the globe, and bad records when it comes to human right issues and besides all that an ideology which denies its people their basic right like democracy and freedom, can teach and form our leaders.
As i have told you, we are not alone on the list of the countries who have seen themselves oblige to meet the Libyan leader demands in order to get a slice of his cake, and make their countries economy run for another month. But at the end of the day, this way of doing business will never help our countries to develop and become strong enough to meet its own needs. That’s why I think we should bank only on ourselves and our arms in order to lift our countries like what the Asians have done which’s the right solution, and avoid being a doll in the hand of the others.

Obama is 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate:

Barack Hussein Obama the sitting president of United State of America was declared the Nobel peace prize winner of the year 2009, for his relentless effort in order to bring peace and stability to the world, especially after eight years of Bush presidency, during which the world nearly went crazy, wars and tensions broke up everywhere: Iraq war, Afganistan war tensions between West and Russia, US and Latino, West (crusader) and Muslims, ….etc.

In a speech just after the announcement he said that he is humbled by the prize, and this prize will give him momentum in order to carry on doing what he has already started for the interest of his follow Americans and the world. And he decided to donate the money which comes with the prize for charities foundations.

Around the world many leaders congratulated Obama and said they really agree on the Nobel prize committee decision, and they think that Obama really deserves it.

2010 World Cup:

Among those teams who will be representing Africa in the 2010 world cup we know already Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire. These two teams include very talented players like Drogba and Michal Esian which I hope will make a difference this time, in this world cup especially because this edition will be hosted by South Africa, that’s why they should prevent the cup being shipped away from our continent.
In Europe France still struggle in order to get its ticket while German and British have already get theirs. In south America Brazil has almost get their ticket whereas the Argentine team the “flamingo” and its coach former foot ball star Diego Maradona face a tough equation in order to get their ticket while many voices started calling for its resignation as a coach of the team.
In Mauritania, we still don’t have even a team because our leaders never invested genuinely in the sport. And our former national foot ball player today struggle in order to make end meet which's discouraging for the younger generation.

A new era of good bonds:

After the first golf war, the diplomatic ties between Mauritania and UAE nearly went to collapse, even though the two countries didn’t reach the red line and announce a full cut of all the relationship, both countries called their ambassadors, and since then, UAE, the oil rich country never sent back their Ambassador until two days ago.
This new step is a good signal from the ruler of the UAE toward the newly elected government in Mauritania, and his head Mr Ould Abdel Azize, which should be welcomed and very well handled for the interest of both people and both countries.
Now A new chapter of a good relationship between the two countries is kicked off and we hope that the investors will start visiting our country and take advantage from the opportunities a country like our, can offer in various fields stretching from fish industry to hotels and resorts.

A new victim of the war against the embezzlement:

In Mauritania, the authority have just arrested and jailed the national director of the international fund for action against AIDS, Tuberculoses and Malaria, and charged him for embezzlement of more than one billion ouguiya ($1.7 m) which has been sent to the national bureau in order to alleviate and tackle those serious diseases according to an agreed program but it disappeared without been spent according to what was planned.

This gesture proves ones again that the current president of the country is vowing to wage a war against mismanagement, which has been always one of his top priorities during the presidential campaign. Today he is really walking his talk. Also this operation proves that, for the current president, when it comes to national interest he doesn’t target a specific group nor a specific tribe but those who are responsible for mismanagement, bad action, and embezzlement, because the today’s jailed person is a close ally of the president and brother of the current health care Minster.

Suicidal or murder crime ?

In Aravat one of Nktt biggest suburb a man was found hanged in a broken truck. A leak from the ongoing police enquiries says it was a suicidal operation. But this rumour is ruled out swiftly by the victim’s family who insist on the fact that their son was an officer in the army, and had a good family to look after and he is a very religious man and he would never, in any circumstances, commit such an awful crime, so they ask for a full and thorough enquiry into their son’s death, in order to bring the murderers before the justice. Also for the family of the dead man, the main suspect is the drug dealers because their son’s unite in the army was lately behind many successful operations against the traders of the death.

Until a full settlement of this case, which has seen the involvement and the murder of an army officer, the insecurity climate will remain rampant in the whole country and especially in Nktt and its suburb.

The traffic jams in Nouakchott:

For many years now, Nouakchott’s main way has become totally bottlenecked throughout all the day, due to the development of the city which contains today more than one million inhabitant instead of four hundred thousand inhabitant previousely thought by the end of 2020 this situation triggered an unexpected sharp rise in the number of the cars in the roads.

Even though the current authority have took a string of useful measures (like banning two-way traffic on many roads ) but the traffic remains heavy if not geting worse during the rush hours.

This situation will cost every year a big amount of money to our already weak economy, that’s why I urge the current authority to think about this issue and bring about a quick and lasting solution, like for example building bridges and more traffic lights, so our capital can look beautiful again.

The education in Mauritania:

Today, it’s obvious that if we really want to leave to our children a respected nation which doesn’t survive by begging for a handout, a real push should be given to the education system, firstly the teachers should be well paid and also well monitored in order to give the best of them. Also people should be hired according to their skills and knowledge and student should be rewarded for their efforts by allowing more grants in side the country and abroad.

Needless to say, we will only overcome all our woes if we can have a reliable school.

Is the world financial crisis affecting us?

The situation may look the same for the simple citizen in Africa or Asia, but on the ground, no one would be spared even the simple Payson in the rural villages, according to many experts in the field.

In order to shed much light on the subject, let’s focus more on the trail of devastation it left on the American life and economy. Beyond the historical presidential election which have seen the American people electing for the first time in history an African American as a president, this crisis have pushed this newly elected president, to urge the senate to vote more than $700 billions as a stimulus package, and he promised that every penny of this money would be spent wisely.

As a result of his plan of recovery, Mr Barack H. OBAMA linked the state bail-out to more controls and more presence from the state in the decision making board of those companies and banks who would benefit from it. Only this step alone may undermine the liberal system and see more interventions from the state in the economy, which’s was unimaginable a few years ago. Also needless to say these measures, will bring down the amount of aids money which would go to the developing countries across the world, and if we remember that the USA is the biggest world aid donors we understand that if they get a cough the rest of the world especially the developing world get fever.

Sport in Mauritania:

In Nouakchott, the capital of the country there are only a handful places for practicing, and people didn’t flock in either. The sports time doesn’t exist in the mind of the majority of the people, while there’s time for businesses, for entertainment for debates and many other things.

If you reach a certain age, and you dare wear a sport jacket out in the street, you will attract the people attention, and comments. In Nouakchott, it’s almost forbidden to go jogging if you’re a grown person, and people see it as a shameful and childish activity.

Even though, the science have proved the benefits of the sport and its role in improving the health and preventing body from many serious diseases, in Mauritania we still reluctant to do it, and prefer queuing in front of the hospital gates, paying medical bills and destroying our body by chemical treatments usually without any result.

The Mauritanians dream:

The question I’m going to try and answer through the following lines is: what is the dream of the average Mauritanian citizen?
We all know that every person has a dream which’s usually shaped by his country’s resources and the opportunities his government offers to him.

Our country Mauritania is a western African country with about three million inhabitants, and more than 650 km of Atlantic coast which’s considered to be one of the world best place for fishing, adds to that a flourishing mining sector (iron, diamond, gold, copper…etc) and a rising oil output (today about 17000 barrel a day).

In the other hand our country adopted a decades ago many measures in order to attract investors from all over the world, by liberalizing telecoms sector (three cell phone operators), transport system (private airline companies) and especially the financial sector where you can find many big international Banks like Société Générale and BNP PARISBAS.

Everyone will say that’s more than enough for any person to start thinking about big projects and many ways to get rich easily and lawfully and realizing his dream.

So, what is the dream of the average Citizen in Mauritania? Before answering this question you should bear in mind the fact that, the Mauritanian people still refuse the Globalization and stick to his desert habits and customs, where as a matter of fact you can find a true answer to our question. The dream of the average Mauritanian citizen is stunning because it's buying a car and whatever his brand or his shape, old, new are the same, because for him cars replace the camels in today’s life, and everything else is rubbish, including education, good manner, sports, realising economical success by hard work ....etc.

Changing side:

Today for me it’s stupid to refuse the democratic rules which allow people to change their government team, according to a general agreed law called the constitution, peacefully and without any drop of blood.

Denying the benefit of this system, call into mind that you prefer the rules of the jingle, which allow those with strong arms to govern without any other criterion. Unfortunately if we do so we undermine our future, because no thing could be guaranteed, and at any time a violent change can happen with a lot of blood shed and a lot of pain.

The democratic system gives the same chance to every citizen, so everyone feels able to succeed because the game is fair. In the democratic system people spend their time and their energy in building and developing their country and in the jungle system of law people spend their time and energy in order to whip out the other, the enemy.