He became acquainted with some extremist young men and went to jail for being a member of a terrorist organization. However, today, he turned his life around and became the head of a sports and culture club.

We met him and he told us about his past as well as his present.

Abdel Wadood Ould Mohamed Salem said: ”I travelled to Iraq to continue my studies and I obtained a bachelor degree in physics from the University of Baghdad in 2002. Then, I went back to Mauritania and I got a diploma in Islamic economy from the Institute for Islamic Studies and a master’s degree in business management from the University of Abdullah Ibn Yassin in Nouakchott. After that, I created a newspaper called “Al-tanwir” (illumination), which was confiscated just after the first issue was out and I was not allowed to resume my media career after getting out of prison through “Al-Manar” (lighthouse) website, which I tried to establish but I did not get clearance to do so. Now, I am the head of a sports and culture club that participates in the official national championship since 2011”.

Our interviewee told us about how he joined the terrorist organization and said:

“I started getting to know the Salafi ideology during my studies in Iraq especially in the year 2000 in the Sidia region and more accurately in a mosque managed by Yemenis. Therefore, I frequented this mosque with a Mauritanian friend despite the fact that the idea of jihad did not appeal to me at that time. Then, it had become clear to me that the Salafi project was a project that calls for resisting westernization and oppression more than all the other ideologies found in the Arab world such as the Arab nationalism project and the Muslim Brotherhood project alongside other projects.

When I went back to Mauritaniawith my friend at the end of 2002, we started frequenting mosques in order to get to know Salafist individuals and groups that we can get affiliated with. My friend was able to discover a secret Salafi organization composed of Mauritanians, which reached an advanced phase in its internal construction. My friend was my entry point to this organization. In spite of the fact that the truth about this Mauritanian Salafist organization remains undiscovered until now, I will clarify some aspects of this organization being a former cell prince, the former head of media relations and a member of the coordination and logistic support cell”.

Abdel WadoodOuld Mohamed Salem continued by saying:

“This organization gained its power because its founding members are experienced theologians in Salafism and jihadism; for instance, there are amongst them members who were affiliated with the Hassem movement, which was dismantled in 1994 in Nouakchott. Amongst them as well are fighters who fought in Afghanistan where some of them were killed and some of them came back. There are also those who taught Oussama Bin Laden when he was in Sudan in mid-90s and those who have strong ties with charity institutions in the gulf, which are supporting the organization. Unemployed young graduates represented a major source pushing the organization forward.”

He adds: “When we started constituting the military wing, we began by sending the jihadists to Algeria and Mali to train. This happened before the Algerian Salafist community pledged allegiance to combat Al-Qaida and that is when some Mauritanian jihadists participated in what is called the Lamghit invasion in the north of Mauritania, which resulted in twelve casualties.”

The young man clarified the reasons that made him join this organization and said: «I joined the organization after I heard a religious speech directed against the west and especially against the USA coinciding with the images of Muslim oppression in Palestine, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq at a later time. Joining the organization was also due to the political reality in the country in 2003 since there were many coups and there were many nationalist and ethnic armed groups outside the country in addition to the armed Islamists. The presence of an exclusionary and totalitarian regime has generated an internal rebellion and so I preferred to join the jihadi Salafism, which saw that Mauritania was on the brink of a civil war for which we have to prepare. Moreover, my friend who was with me in Iraq further influenced me to join the organization.”

Detention conditions

Regarding the detention conditions, our intervieweestated: “After the 2005 coup, the internal tension was mitigated by releasing many Islamist prisoners and many groups conceded their weapons such as The Knights of Change and FLAM resulting in a division within the organization about the utility of pointing arms towards a regime that relieved the people. I was one of those who advocated armed organization and participating in political action whereas the rest joined the Algerian Malian Front. At that time, I was wanted by the authority but under a nickname and I quit the organization while staying in contact with my old friend who became very close to Mokhtar BelmokhtarBalour. After my friend was arrested in Mauritania where he was plotting with a jihadi group a series of attacks in the capital Nouakchott at the end of May 2006, the authorities began dismantling the remnants of the organization and I was arrested along with other prominent leaders of the organization in the beginning of June 2006 in Nouakchott.

Then, he continued: “After one year, we were tried following a confidential discussion with the authorities and we were acquitted of all charges during the trial and then I was released in July 2007. I met some leaders of the organization who were released before me and they offered me to work with them in a missionary charity association for which they obtained a clearance but I refused. I preferred to get political asylum, through the RADO organization, in Europe and going there from Senegal but I was interrogated twice by the Senegalese authorities and so I went back to Mauritania.”

When he spoke about his present, he said:”After trying to teach in private schools, I established Al-Ahli Mauritanian Club in 2011, which is a sports and culture club having teams in different age categories participating in the national championship. However, I find it difficult to acquire enough funding for our annual programs. Establishing this club was a means to go against delinquency and terrorism because separation is the root of delinquency.”

At the end of the interview, Abdel WadoodOuld Mohamed Salem invited the west to read the Quran and to not judge it based on the behavior of some Muslims. He also asked the authorities to facilitate the reintegration of jihadists who repented of their practice in public life and show them that the society accepts them. Moreover, he warned that young men should not learn about religion from the internet.