from the page: "DOHA (AFP) — Qatar ordered the closure of Israel's trade office in Doha over the Jewish state's war on Gaza, Qatar's official news agency reported on Sunday, citing a foreign ministry official...Qatar, previously the only Gulf Arab state with Israeli trade ties, said officials working at the Jewish state's trade office, open since 1996, have seven days to leave the country. Qatar and Mauritania decided on Friday to "suspend" their relations with Israel at an Arab summit in Doha called to discuss the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, a Mauritanian diplomat told AFP."
"Qatar and Mauritania have suspended economic and political ties with Israel in protest against the war in Gaza, Al Jazeera has learned ... Addressing leaders at an emergency Arab summit in Doha, the Qatari capital, al-Assad declared that the Arab initiative for peace with Israel was now "dead". He said Arab countries should cut "all direct and indirect" ties with Israel in protest against its offensive in Gaza. "Syria has decided that indirect peace negotiations with Israel will be halted," he said. His comments were echoed by Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls the Gaza Strip." "
The Trans-Saharan Counter-Terrorism Initiative
The US War on Terrorism in Northwest Africa
Mauritania's decision to recall its ambassador to Israel earlier this week marked the "first step" to cutting ties with the Jewish state, an adviser to the northwest African country's military junta said on Saturday.
"Mauritania's decision to recall its ambassador in Israel is a first step towards severing ties with this aggressive entity," said Cheikh Ben Horma Ould Ben Babana, adviser to the president of Mauritania's ruling High Council of State. "This relationship between Mauritania and the Israeli entity disturbs and embarrasses Mauritanians." (Reuters)
Boubacar Messaoud remembered strolling from the flatlands of Mauritania toward the southern town of Rosso, a watermelon poised on his head. Beyond a riverbank, he could see a row of children in a yard. Messaoud, then 7, stopped to find out what was going on, with the pure curiosity of a child.
NOUAKCHOTT: Mauritania has called back its ambassador to Israel for consultations, Mauritanian government sources said yesterday.
The northwest African state is one of only three Arab countries to have diplomatic relations with Israel, along with Egypt and Jordan.