Israeli delegation visits Mauritania By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania
Under heavy security, an Israeli delegation opened an official visit Wednesday to the western Sahara nation of Mauritania, the only Arab League member still maintaining full diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
State media announced the visit, led by Middle-Eastern relations officials of Israel's Foreign Ministry.
Israelis and Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamed Vall Ould Bellal will discuss Middle East affairs in light of the death of Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposal to withdraw from Gaza and some West Bank settlements, a Mauritanian official said, on condition of anonymity.
Mauritania, an Arab-dominated West African nation straddling black and Arab Africa, opened full diplomatic relations with Israel in the 1990s.
Jordan and Egypt, the only other two Arab League nations holding that status, have withdrawn their ambassadors from Israel since the latest Palestinian-Israeli violence began in 2000.
Despite widespread objections at home, President Maaoya Sid'Ahmed Taya's 20-year old regime maintains that the ties allow it to work for change in Israeli-Arab relations.
Israel is also building a cancer hospital in the middle of the capital, Nouakchott, under tight police protection. This week's visit was expected to include talks on exchanges of doctors and other medical assistance
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