Mauritanian tourist season will be seriously affected this year by the Tourine (north) terrorist attack that killed 11 soldiers and their civilian guide, with the French operator ’Point d’Afrique’ who has been in the area for 12 years, announcing it would cancel its flights to the Atar city (550km north of Nouakchott) due to "insecurity in the country".In a letter to its customers, Maurice Freund, the head of the agency said his decision was prompted « by the barbaric act blamed on Al Qaeda and the new uncertainty prevailing after the 6 August 2006 putsch".
Reacting to this unexpected decision, the chairman of the Mauritanian tourism federation in the northern part of the country, Salem Ould Souleymane, said this attitude by Maurice Freund was a "betrayal to a people that have always welcomed it and provided all facilities particularly tax reduction".For him, the authorities are concerned by the security of the tourists who have nothing to fear.
Ould Selmane believes that the withdrawal by Point d’Afrique is caused by the participation in this season of the TRASAVIA airline under Air France which is offering much cheaper fares than those proposed by Point d’Afrique.The Mauritanian Service and Tourism Company (SOMASERT) said it was planning to organize flights throughout the season with TRANSAVIA.In 2007 the Mauritania leg of the Paris-Dakar Rally was cancelled following the murder of four French tourists in a terrorist attack in December of the same year.
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