AQIM Supected in Kidnapping of Three Aid Workers in Mauritania

Via BBC -

Spain says al-Qaeda's North African cell is likely to be responsible for the apparent kidnapping of three aid workers in Mauritania.

Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said "everything suggests" al-Qaeda in the Maghreb was involved.

Mauritanian police said the workers, from Barcelona Accion Solidaria, were attacked on a road linking the capital Nouakchott to the city of Nouadhibou.

Two men and a woman were snatched by armed men.

The three aid workers were in a four-wheel drive vehicle at the back of a convoy when they were attacked.

Julia Tabernejo, from Barcelona Accion Solidaria, told the Associated Press: "I think the others heard shooting, and when they stopped, the car was empty. Those three were no longer in it."

[...]

The kidnapping happened near the town of Chelkhett Legtouta.

"Though we can say absolutely nothing for sure at the moment, everything would seem to indicate that it was a kidnapping," said Mr Rubalcaba.

"If that's the case, as I fear it is, everything suggests that it is an AQIM [al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb] kidnapping."

Analysts say Mauritania has generally been a peaceful country - but several attacks linked to the al-Qaeda cell have rocked the status quo.

An American teacher was killed in June, with al-Qaeda later claiming it had killed him for spreading Christianity.