* Unidentified gunmen kill U.S. aid worker * No immediate claim of responsibility (Adds comment from junta official) By Vincent Fertey NOUAKCHOTT, June 23 (Reuters) - Gunmen shot dead a U.S. aid worker on Tuesday in the capital of Mauritania, an ally of the West in its fight against growing al Qaeda activity in northwest Africa and the Sahara desert. A top official from the military junta said the attack and the threat of terrorism showed how important it was to ensure the army was not sidelined as Mauritania prepares for elections to restore democracy next month under pressure from donors. The American, the director of an aid group working in Mauritania, was shot in the head on a street in the centre of the usually quiet city of Nouakchott. A police source said two gunmen had opened fire before fleeing the scene and they were now being sought by police. There was no claim of responsibility and police gave no indication as to the motive for the attack. "He had been living in Mauritania for six years," said one of the victim's friends, who did not wish to be named. Attacks in the country which straddles black and Arab Africa are infrequent but in December 2007, four French tourists were killed by the North African wing of al Qaeda. The Israeli embassy was attacked in 2008. Mauritania's military ruler, General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, made fighting al Qaeda a priority when he seized power from the country's first democratically elected leader last August. Delayed elections are due to be held on July 18, but putting in place an interim government to supervise the poll has been held up by demands from politicians for the ruling military council to be dissolved or come under civilian authority. Mohamed Yahia Ould Mohamed Horma, leading a junta delegation to talks with civilian politicians in Senegal that ended without agreement, said the attack showed the importance of making sure the military was strengthened and able to operate effectively. Al Qaeda has shown signs of intensifying its attacks in the Sahara, which stretches across nearby Mali and Niger. Earlier this month, the group killed a British hostage in Mali, the first time it had executed a Westerner it had kidnapped, after other hostages were freed in exchange for reported ransom payments. Regional analysts say the local wing of al Qaeda is motivated as much by money as it is ideology, buying hostages from Tuareg rebels in the hope of receiving ransom payments that are thought to run into the millions of dollars. Governments of kidnapped nationals routinely deny that money has changed hands. (Additional reporting by Diadie Ba in Dakar; Writing by Daniel Magnowski; Editing by Matthew Tostevin and Sophie Hares)
The body of 34-year-old South Korean aid worker Eom Young-seon is handled upon its arrival from Yemen at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, June 19, 2009. Eom was among nine ...
