Rumbles in Mauritania
Call to Islam: The main mosque in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, is just one of some 900 mosques that Saudi money has been seeding in the city since the early 1980s. In 1989, Nouakchott had 58 mosques. The trend is part of a rapid trend toward more fundamental impositions of Islam in one of the Arab world's traditionally more moderate countries. (Photo © IRIN)
Mauritania may be bigger than Texas and New Mexico put together. But it doesn't usually catch the world's attention. And if it does, half the time it's confused with Mauritius, that dust-mite of an island on the other side of the African continent, way out there in the Indian Ocean.
Mauritania's geographic location makes it difficult to imagine as part of the Middle East, let alone the Arab world. Yet it's part of both politically and culturally. And chances are that it'll be increasingly heard from in the years ahead: Some claim it's becoming a new front in the "war on terror," as al-Qaeda extends its reach from the Maghreb. Some say that claim is bunk. (I tend to agree). But no one disputes the increasing Islamic radicalization of the country.
Here's a complete profile of Mauritania.
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