- French authorities have responded to the arrest of two suspects believed to have killed four French tourists on 24 December in the southern Mauritanian town of Aleg.
The tourists who were on a picnic had been killed after they refused to give money to the gunmen who found them picnicking.
“The complete cooperation between the authorities of the countries concerned proved effective, and there is cause to thank the governments of Mauritania, Senegal and Guinea Bissau," French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"International cooperation is indeed indispensable in combating terrorism as demonstrated by this arrest and the use of the African Union Convention in order to proceed with the transfer of the suspects to the country where the crime was committed.
“The French authorities are following with attention and confidence the developments in the inquiry conducted by the Mauritanian authorities to shed light on these assassins and bring the perpetrators and their accomplices to justice.”
Following a large-scale investigation into an attack that caused the cancellation of the famous Paris-Dakar Rally this year, the two terrorists suspects were arrested in a hotel in the Guinean capital Bissau. The police also effected the arrest of three other suspects accused of conspiring with the attackers.
Two suspects - Mohamed Ould Sidi Chabarnou [aka Abou Mouslim or Abou Soulema], 28, and Sidi Ould Sidna [aka Abou Jendel]. Both men [Mauritanians] confirmed to be members of al-Qaeda.
Mauritanian authorities have demanded their extradition.
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