French man shot by Mauritanians

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Mauritanian soldiers on guard near the country's presidential palace have shot and wounded a French national after mistaking him for an attacker.

The troops reportedly opened fire on a car in the capital Nouakchott that did not respond to instructions to leave.

The wounded man was taken to hospital in the city and is due to be flown to France for treatment, reports say.

Mauritania's security forces have been on high alert since four French tourists were shot dead in December.

The West African state fears that al-Qaeda cells are gaining a foothold in the region.

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"At around 2100 (GMT) someone in a vehicle with tinted windows passed in front of the military base in Nouakchott and the soldiers guarding it panicked and opened fire into the vehicle," an unnamed police official told Reuters news agency.

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"The person inside was a French national working for a private security firm which was helping the army secure the base."

Mauritanian officials have been under increasing pressure since one of the suspects in the case, Sidi Ould Sidna, disappeared from a courthouse two weeks ago, apparently after being left alone for a few minutes.

A subsequent manhunt has led to two shootouts in Nouakchott that have left three people dead.

Mauritanian police last week arrested another suspect, Marouf Ould Haiba, who was on the run in the capital disguised as a woman with a gun hidden under his Islamic dress.

December's tourist killings dealt a severe blow to Mauritania's tourism industry, correspondents say, as they led to the cancellation of the prestigious trans-Saharan Dakar motor rally - which had been due to pass through Mauritania in January.