Opposition says leaders not seen

An opposition group in Mauritania, the Union des forces democratiques (UDF) has said nobody has been allowed to see four of its members held by the government last week, AFP reported yesterday. UDF officials also said their leaders, whom they considered “abducted” by the government, were being held in Tichitt, in the central desert. They were arrested for saying at a public rally that the government had agreed to take Israeli nuclear waste. The government has denied the accusation. AFP added that lawyers for the four men had been unable to meet the interior ministry for explanations of the arrests and had appealed to international rights groups to press for their release.