Demonstrators threw rocks and set fire to cars in Nouakchott during a protest against a government census which critics say discriminates against black citizens.
|||Nouakchott - Demonstrators threw rocks and set fire to cars in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott on Thursday during a protest against a government census which critics say discriminates against blacks.
The riot followed similar protests in the south of the country on Tuesday in which a man was killed when police fired live rounds and teargas grenades.
A Reuters reporter saw one car in flames and said hundreds of protesters were on the capital's streets. Several youths were throwing rocks as groups of police in riot gear arrived, arresting some of the demonstrators.
Protesters say many black people have been excluded from the census after being asked questions about their origin, raising the risk that they will not be eligible for new biometric identity cards due to be introduced shortly.
“This census is solely aimed at depriving black Mauritanians of their citizenship,” said Abdul Birane Wane, leader of the protest movement.
Mauritania, a poor, mostly desert nation struggling with a growing presence of al-Qaeda-linked militants, has a long history of tension between Arabs and blacks, who make up a large minority of of its population and have long complained of being treated as second-class citizens. - Reuters
Source: http://www.iol.co.za/census-row-sparks-riots-in-mauritania-1.1147684
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