Mauritanian President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, has promised his French peer Nicolas Sarkozy that everything possible would be done to bring the killers of four French tourists to justice. During a phone conversation on Monday, Abdallahi told the French leader that everything would be done "to track down the perpetrators of this criminal act and take them to court".
Meanwhile, Mauritanian security forces have intensified their search to capture the suspects who killed the tourists on Monday near Aleg, some 260 kilometres southeast of Nouakchott, security sources told PANA on Tuesday. The search area includes Boghé near the border with Senegal, some 60 kilometres south of the place where the attack has taken place.
Security forces have erected road blocks to prevent the suspects from fleeing to Senegal, the reports have indicated.
The French tourists were travelling towards Mali when they were attacked by three men who wanted to rob them of their money, official statements have said. However, prosecutors in Mauritania investigating the case said Tuesday they believed that there may be a link with Al-Qaeda's North African affiliate. Five people have so far been arrested over Monday's shooting, AFP reported.
