Mauritania's independent news agency Al-Akhbar reported June 26 that security forces had arrested four men supposedly linked to "al-Qaeda in the Maghreb" in raids on some Internet cafes in the the capital, Nouakchott. The detainees are said to be four foreigners (two Moroccans and two Algerians) and a Saudi national of Mauritanian origin. The arrests coincided with the opening of a trial of 11 detainees accused of links to al-Qaeda in the Maghreb. (BBC Monitoring, AKI, June 26)

In a case earlier this month, 24 Mauritanian Islamists were acquitted of collaborating with terrorist groups. A 25th defendant was found guilty of falsifying documents and sentenced to two years in prison. (Pravda, June 28)

See our last posts on Mauritania, the Sahel, al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda in the Maghreb.