IRA warns Mauritania against harming its leader

The Mauritanian president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz The Mauritanian president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, said on Sunday evening that he will work on punishing all who were involved in burning Maliki books, adding that the Mauritanian

people take their religion and ethics very seriously. Meanwhile, Arab ambassadors in Nouakchott expressed resentment aganst what they called a “crime” committed by the president of the IRA movement, Biram Ould Dah Ould Abeid, for burning Islamic books about the Maliki faith  in front of worshippers in the capital. His movement also warned the government against harming its leader who was detained on Saturday.
The Mauritanian foreign minister, Hamadi Ould Hamadi, said in his meeting on Sunday with several Arab ambassadors, that there is room in Mauritania for freedom of expression. However he added that the issue has now become related to severe assault on the creeds of the society, and its offenders will be punished.
For his part, the Moroccan ambassador in Mauritania,  Abdurrahman Ben Omar, declared his solidarity with Mauritania and denounced this as a  “crime.” The Mauritanian official news agency announced the unanimity of the Arab ambassadors who condemned this act and their solidarity with the Mauritanian government in all the procedures it sees appropriate to deter whoever allows himself to abuse the values and identity of the society.
In the same context, the Mauritanian opposition figure Mostafa Ould al-Imam al-Shafi\'i, who lives in Burkina Faso, and who is a friend and ally of Biram Ould Dah Ould Abeid, condemned the act in a statement on Sunday evening.
The ruling party in Mauritania, the “Union for the Republic”, said that the IRA movement who committed this act should be held accountable. It called on all public authorities, religious, social groups, political elites and citizens to declare their condemnation of this incident.
Similarly, the Islamic party, the National Rally for Reform and Development, and the party Union of the Forces of Progress expressed their condemnation with these actions.
However the IRA movement warned Sunday, in a statement which Arabstoday obtained a copy of, against harming its leader. It added that this would dismantle the national unity. The IRA leader had been detained on Saturday, as a group of riot police stormed his home and arrested him and four of his colleagues. The attack caused seven injuries, due to confrontations which took place between the two sides.
The IRA has criticised the parties that condemned its leader, saying that the burning acts were a symbolic initiative against the books which are falsely attributed to Imam Maliki, as in reality they do not belong to him. It added that these parties used this action as a pretext to respond to the call of the Union of the Republic, which was launched by the ruling regime to spread intolerance for the benefit of itself. The IRA added that this is falsely and slanderously attributed to Islamic jurisprudence, but in reality however it does not belong to it.