Nouakchott/Rome, Dec 29 :Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Monday he will travel to Mauritania where Al Qaeda's North African branch has claimed to have kidnapped an Italian couple.

"I will not comment any further, so as not to prejudice the safety of our nationals," Frattini said in an interview with public television news programme TG1.

He did not specify the exact dates of his trip to the African country other than to say it would be early in January.

Nouakchott  - A Mauritanian army officer on Monday said soldiers had arrested seven armed men suspected of being members of the North African branch of al-Qaeda.

The men were arrested in the remote Limaghiti region, some 1,100 kilometres north-east of the capital, Nouakchott.

They were "active members of al-Qaeda," a source in the Mauritanian military told the German Press Agency dpa, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

Nouakchott  - Mauritanians went to polls Saturday in presidential elections meant to restore political stability and the country's international legitimacy after a 2008 military coup.

Coup leader Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz was tipped to win, though he was not expected to get an absolute majority, and could face a single challenger on a second election round in the north-west African Islamic country.

Nouakchott - Mauritania's first democratically-elected president formally stepped aside Saturday, ten months after being deposed in a coup, clearing the way for July 18 elections.

Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi signed the agreement paving the way for the elections. Negotiations had been mediated by the African Union, European Union, Arab League and United Nations. An interim regime will now be set up to guide the nation until the elections.

Nouakchott - Mauritanian negotiators were Saturday racing against the clock to reach an agreement to postpone presidential elections scheduled for June 6 which were being boycotted by major opposition parties in the north-west African Islamic desert country.

The African Union, European Union, Arab League and United Nations have been mediating between the Mauritanian authorities and the opposition, which sees the elections as a charade to sweep former junta leader Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz to power.

Nouakchott, Mauritania  - Members of the al-Qaeda terrorist group attacked an army patrol in the north of Mauritania, an official report released early Tuesday said.

"A patrol from our security forces resisted an attack in Tourine, 850 kilometres north of Nouakchott in the northern region of Tiris Zemmour," the report said, without stating the number of casualties.

"The assault was conducted by the extremist Salafite Group of Preaching and Combat affiliated with the al-Qaeda organization.

"The terrorist group was planning a massive attack north of the country," said the statement, exclusively released by the Mauritanian news agency.

Nouakchott, Mauritania  - The Mauritanian military junta which took power on August 6 on Monday announced the formation of a new government, the Mauritanian news agency AMI reported.

The government is headed by Moulaye Ould Mohammed Laghdaf, the former ambassador of the north-west African desert country to Brussels.

Most of the 22 ministers were regarded as backers of the coup.

Nouakchott, Mauritania - The military junta that seized power in the north-western African nation of Mauritania promised "free and transparent" presidential elections Thursday, a day after its coup.

A date for the elections was not mentioned in a junta statement carried by the Mauritanian press agency AMI.

A "state council" under the leadership of presidential guard commander Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz seized power Wednesday after the arrests of President Sidi Ould Cheikh and Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghf.

The coup came after the president sacked top military officers.

Nouakchott, Mauritania  - Mauritanian security forces Tuesday launched grenades on a house where Islamist radicals had escaped to after clashing with police and soldiers on Monday, the local news agency ANI reported.

The extremists had, however, fled before police arrived at the house in the north of the capital Nouakchott.

The attack on the house followed street clashes in which one Islamist and one police officer were killed and at least eight people, most of them members of of the security forces, were injured.