The other day the internet carried a story about an Italian national and his Italian nationalized Mauritanian wife were KFR (kidnapped for ransom) by Al Quaida (as reported) operatives in Nouakchott, the capital city of Mauritania.

Mauritania lies in the extreme west of north Africa. To the north, next stop Morocco.

In 1983 I was in Mauritania building "farm to market roads". I never understood the rationale for the program, since I never saw a single farm in Mauritania.

That is not to say that Nouakchott is not without its' charm. One can go down to the beach and surf cast for tuna on their pelagic way to warmer waters. And the beach is alive with clams that practically jump into the bucket.

The only souvenir I have from there is a camel hair rug. I think I tired of it, and gave it away.

But other than that, Nouakchott sucks. There are no paved streets. All buildings are of adobe, and single storey. It never rains and there is no sewerage system, so the rapid accumulation of human excrement becomes a problem. Dried by the desert winds, it is pulverized and blown into the city. It tends to alter your outlook on things. They don't have smog in Nouakchott; they have "shog". The inevitable question arises: "why would anyone live here?" The answer of course is, they don't have a choice.

The poor Italian bugger, on his way to Bamako, Mali with his wife, presumably minding his own business was picked up and remains missing.

So do we have a problem in Mauritania, too? Anyone in Washington paying attention? Hello!?

-=<()>=-