NOUAKCHOTT, May 21, 2005 (IslalmOnline.net) – Mauritanian Islamists lambasted Saturday, May 21, the government spokesman and minister of communications for smearing scholars as “devils” and its criticism of the growing number of mosques in the capital city of Nouakchott.

“His statements reflect the bankrupt policies of the Mauritanian government and are a desperate bid to twist the fact that the Islamist current is largely moderate and strongly rejects violence and hyperbolic rhetoric,” prominent Islamist figure Mohammad Jamil Ould Mansour told IslamOnline.net.

Mansour hit out at the minister’s “devil” description, saying it held in contempt the Mauritanian values and trespassed sacrosanct lines.

“I further wonder why he is so upset with the growing number of mosques when pubs are mushrooming,” he said.

Communications Minister Hammoud Ould Abdi accused the Islamists in the country Thursday, May 19, of destabilizing the country, citing what he said were “police reports”.

Threatening to place the country’s mosques under state supervision, the minister questioned the establishment of 730 mosques in Nouakchott, accusing what he termed as “extremist” Islamists of funding a majority of mosques.

Abdi threatened to place mosques under state supervision.

Meanwhile, police arrests of Islamists continued unabated in the northwestern African country.

The latest raids led to the arrest of Imam of Al-Dhikir mosque in Nouakchott Ahmad Jedou Ould Abdellah, and female opposition activist Khadija Bent Dahman, the wife of already detained imam Mohammad Al-Amin Ould Al-Mostafa.

The swoops have further targeted journalists, including the editor-in-chief of the independent Nouakchott News, Mohammad Mahmoud Ould Abul Maali.

Dozens of students in Nouakchott University staged Saturday an open-ended hunger strike in protest at the arrest of Islamist activist Anas Ould Mohammad, a leading member in the Union of Students.

The Mauritanian Observatory for Human Rights further warned Saturday of the deteriorating health conditions of the opposition detainees in Wadi Al-Naqa prison amid torture reports.

It said in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by IOL, that the lives of many prisoners were in real danger after their jailers fired tear gas canisters at the crowded and poor-ventilated prison cells Thursday, May 19.

Mauritanian authorities stepped up their crackdown on mosque imams and Islamists last week.

Well-placed sources told IOL that ten imams were arrested by security forces Monday, May 16, as part of a continuing crackdown on mosques.

The government further enacted last week a new law banning lectures and sermons, except Friday, in the country’s mosques to stop what it called “chaotic scenes” in the places of worship.