Gunmen kill 4 French tourists in Mauritania

By Ibrahima Sylla

NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) - Gunmen armed with assault rifles shot dead four French tourists from the same family and seriously injured a fifth in Mauritania on Monday, local police and French officials said.

Members of the family were attacked in their car on the road 15 km from Aleg, in a popular sightseeing area 250 km (160 miles) southeast of the West African country's capital, Nouakchott, said a police officer who declined to be named.

The fifth tourist, the father of the family, was injured in the leg and taken to Aleg's hospital, and was in a serious condition, he said.

The three attackers were armed with semi-automatic assault rifles and drove two Mercedes saloon cars, he said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed the deaths, but said details of the incident were still unclear and an investigation was under way.

"At the moment, it's still too early to say exactly what the reasons were for this attack which I can't describe because we don't know the motivation or even really how it occurred," he said during a visit to a hospital in Paris.

"As things stand, I can only confirm this sad news and offer my condolences," he said.

He said he would be speaking to Mauritanian President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi soon.