(Adds al Qaeda claim published by website, paragraphs 3-4) By Vincent Fertey NOUAKCHOTT, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Mauritania has launched a military operation to hunt the al Qaeda raiders who ambushed soldiers in an attack analysts see as raising the risks for oil and mining investors in the West Saharan state. Twelve Mauritanian soldiers are missing from Monday's ambush in the northern Tourine area, 100 km (60 miles) east of Zouerate, the mining town at the heart of the iron ore industry, which is linked by railway to the Atlantic port of Nouadhibou. A local website, http://www.akhbarmauritania.info/, ran a statement it said was from al Qaeda's North Africa wing saying the group carried out the attack, capturing 12 prisoners and three vehicles. The statement made no immediate demands. There was no independent confirmation of the veracity of the claim attributed to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Mauritania's military, which rattled investors by deposing the elected civilian president in an Aug. 6 coup, had said it believed the soldiers were being held by al Qaeda militants who have carried out past attacks in the north. "The area has been sealed off ... We're actively engaged in hunting these men who attacked, we're looking for a column of seven to eight vehicles," a Mauritanian government security source, who asked not to be named, said on Wednesday. Monday's ambush has increased fears of further attacks in the Zouerate region, where state-controlled SNIM is the seventh largest supplier of iron ore to the world market. Mauritania became Africa's newest oil producer in 2006, and although output is small, international companies are looking for new sources of crude, as well as gas, gold and copper. "The zone is starting to be dangerous. Not only for oil companies exploring in the Taoudeni basin (in east Mauritania, bordering with Mali), but also maybe for mining installations," said Ismael Ould Abdel Vetah, an independent oil consultant. The Mauritanian security source said an arms trafficker with links to the al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb operating in northern Mali had been arrested by authorities. He gave no further details. But the possible link will raise concerns about Mauritania being hit by the kind of armed unrest affecting eastern neighbours Mali and Niger. "This attack (in Mauritania) risks being more of a worry to those who are thinking of investing in the country, than to those who are already there," said Alain Antil, a researcher with the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI). "The goal of these attacks is not to strangle Mauritania economically ... They have a media logic and they want to be talked about," said Antil, an expert on Mauritania. Al Qaeda had claimed an earlier attack in December against the Mauritanian army in which four soldiers were killed. In 2005, gunmen from the same group then calling itself the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) killed 15 Mauritanian soldiers in a raid on a northeast garrison. SECURITY CHALLENGE Monday's attack poses the first major security challenge to the military coup leaders who toppled President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, Mauritania's first freely-elected leader who won a 2007 presidential election. The coup leader, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, has vowed to crack down on militants. The coup led to the suspension of some non-humanitarian aid by the United States and Europe, which had backed Abdallahi's efforts to confront the al Qaeda threat. Following the coup, the local al Qaeda wing called for a "holy war" in Mauritania, saying the generals were probably acting with a green light from "America, France and Israel". In the only official public comment on the ambush so far, the state news agency AMI said the "terrorist group" was "counting on carrying out a large-scale attack in the whole north of the country", but it offered no more details. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf, appointed by Abdel Aziz, told the National Assembly he intended to modernise the armed forces to combat terrorism. "We will put in place a strategy for fighting terrorism on every level," he later told Reuters. "Terrorism is a concern for the whole world, including this country." In December, gunmen killed four French tourists and the incidents forced the trans-Saharan Dakar rally's cancellation. Al Qaeda gunmen attacked the Israeli embassy in February, highlighting Mauritania's status as one of the few Arab countries with diplomatic ties to the Jewish state. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/) (Additional reporting by Hachem Sidi Salem; Writing by Pascal Fletcher; editing by Elizabeth Piper)
An Israeli woman plays with her child in Ma'ale settlement near the West Bank city of Ramallah September 14, 2008. Israel's vice premier presented a proposal on Sunday to pay thousands ...
