Mauritanian President shot accidentally by army patrol: official

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, right, arrives at the airport to meet the plane carrying the remains of nine Muslim preachers killed last week in neighboring Mali, as their bodies were repatriated to Nouakchott, Mauritania Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012. The nine were part of a group of 16 preachers who were traveling by truck from Mauritania to Mali for a religious conference. All 16 as well as their driver were gunned down by Malian soldiers at a checkpoint in the central Malian town of Diabaly. Early reports indicate that the long-bearded preachers were mistaken for the jihadists who took over Mali's north in April, imposing Shariah law and recently threatening to advance on Bamako, the Malian capital. (AP Photo)

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was lightly injured as his motorcade was accidentally fired on by an army unit, according to reports reaching in Abidjan on Saturday.

Mr Abdel Aziz is now being treated at a heavily guarded military hospital in the capital city of Nouakchott, said the hospital sources.

The country’s Communications Minister Hamdi Ould Mahjoub said on national TV that an army patrol unit failed to recognize the President’s convoy, which was heading back to the capital, and opened fired on it.

He also said the President was just lightly wounded on the occasion, and got out of the vehicle on his own as he arrived at the hospital.

Earlier, the country’s security authorities told Xinhua that it was a group of unidentified armed men that were responsible for the shooting, and there is no further detail of the incident.