Mauritania refutes Israeli claims of normalization talks

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
14 Mar 2023 00:18
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Following Israeli media reports, the spokesperson for the Mauritanian government says his country does not have any contacts with "Israel".

A photo showing the Mauritanian flag (Creative commons)

The Mauritanian government on Monday confirmed that there are no normalization talks with the Israeli occupation, contrary to what Israeli media reported.

"We have no relations with Israel, nor do we have any contacts with it," underlined the official spokesperson for the Mauritanian government in a press conference in the capital, Nouakchott.

Under the reign of then-President Maaouya Ould Taya, Mauritania announced in 1999 normalizing diplomatic relations with the Israeli occupation.

However, in 2009, former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz froze the relations in response to the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, before announcing permanently severing ties in 2010.

Since 2021, 200 Mauritanian scholars and Imams have reportedly issued a fatwa prohibiting normalization with the Israeli occupation and considering the relationship with "the usurper entity of the land of Palestine and the occupier of Al-Quds and its environs, forbidden and not permissible in any way."

Last week, Israeli media reported that "Israel" is attempting to reach US-mediated normalization deals with four countries in the coming months.

"Israel" Hayom learned that the Israeli occupation Foreign Minister is aiming to sign normalization ties with Mauritania, Somalia, Niger, and Indonesia.

Behind closed doors, Israeli occupation Prime Minister Netanyahu is orchestrating the negotiations, as are senior US State Department officials, most notably Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, and Amos Hochstein.