Gunmen attack Israeli embassy in Mauritania (2nd Lead)

Feb 1, 2008, 6:48 GMT

Nouakchott/Tel Aviv - Gunmen opened fire at the Israeli embassy in Mauritanian capital Nouakchott before dawn Friday, Israeli officials said.

The gunmen shouted 'God is Great' in Arabic and engaged in a brief gunbattle with Mauritanian soldiers guarding the embassy, Israeli Ambassador to Mauritania Boaz Bismut said.

He said no one was injured at the embassy. But one person was injured outside, 'apparently nearby.'

The Israeli ambassador said the gunfire at about 2:20 am woke him and his staff up.

The attack came after widespread demonstrations in the Islamic republic against Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip, which he said was widely covered in the local media in a 'blunt and I would even say exaggerated' way.

The protesters demanded the West African nation cut off its diplomatic ties with Israel.

'All the people at the embassy, both Mauritanians and Israelis, are ok,' Bismut told Israel Radio.

'The gunfire was heard very well,' he said, adding 'it lasted several minutes.'

He later told Israel Army Radio 'Israel and Mauritania have had full diplomatic relations since 1999 - both countries understand the severity of the incident.'

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni telephoned Bismut and Foreign Ministry Director Aharon Abramovitch said Israel's ties with Mauritania were 'important' to the Jewish state. He expressed hope they would be broadened further in the future, as a result of the renewed peace process with the Palestinians.

Apart from Egypt and Jordan, Mauritania is the only member of the Arab League to have full diplomatic relations with Israel.

The attack came weeks after organizers cancelled the Lisbon-Dakar Rally due to security concerns following the December 24 killing of four French tourists while picnicking in Mauritania.

The government blamed the incident on Islamist militants linked to a branch of al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb.

The 30th Dakar Rally was to have passed through Mauritania between

January 11 and January 19. It was the first time in the 30-year history of the rally across the deserts of north Africa that the race was cancelled.

An Israeli delegation was scheduled to travel to Mauritania Friday morning to evaluate the security at the embassy.

Israeli embassies have a history of attacks and security at them is among the tightest in the world.

In July, 2004, the Israeli ambassador's personal bodyguard and four local policemen were killed in a dual suicide bombing outside the Israeli and American embassies in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

In the deadliest such attack on an Israeli representation, a truck bomb in Buenos Aires in March 1992 killed 28 people, among them four Israelis and four local personnel, and injured some 300 others.