Mauritania denies making contact with Israel

Mauritania has denied media reports that it has been making contact with Israel for the establishment of diplomatic relations, the Palestinian Information Centre has reported.

According to Israeli media, Tel Aviv is in touch with a number of Arab and Islamic countries, including Mauritania, for this purpose.

Al-Mukhtar Walid Dahi, the Minister of Culture and official spokesman for the Mauritanian government, told a press conference in Nouakchott that his country’s position has not changed regarding its full support for the rights of the Palestinian people and its opposition to any secret contacts with the occupation state.

He categorically denied any contacts with Israel for the establishment of diplomatic relations.

The then government of Mauritania did, in fact, establish diplomatic relations with Israel in 1999, but severed them in 2010 in the wake of Israeli aggression against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

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