Bin Ali receives a message from the Mauritania's president

Mauritania Prime Minister Cheike Afia Ould Mohamed Khouna delivered Tunisian President Zein al-Abidin Bin Ali a message from Mauritanian President Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya.

The visit coincided with a Libyan request to expel Mauritania from the Arab Maghreb Union and criticism directed by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to all the Arab states which established relations with Israel.

Talks took place between the Tunisian president and the Mauritania prime minister, who arrived in Tunis at the conclusion of a Maghreb tour that included Rabat and Algeria, during which he delivered messages from the Mauritanian president to his Maghrebean counterparts regarding the decision taken by Nouakchott to establish comprehensive diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv.

This decision was met by severe criticism by the official information in Libyan, which was not included in the visits of the Mauritanian convoy. Some sources attribute this is to the Libyan media attack on Mauritania's decision to open an embassy in Tel Aviv.