I invite you to Mauritania

I was born in Kiffa in 1961, in Mauritania. My country was then discovering independence, granted by France the year before as part of a peaceful transition. Even though I have sometimes lived far from my native land — today mostly in Paris — this magical land inhabits me every day.

In the spring of 2007, I rejoiced like all my compatriots at our first truly democratic presidential election. In many respects, this quiet little country that rarely makes headlines stands out today for its civil society, on the path towards peace and national reconciliation — an example for the whole African continent. For decades, Mauritania has welcomed the competitors of the Dakar Rally with fervour and professionalism.

This year, the murder on 24 December of four French nationals — unprecedented in this country — followed by a deadly attack on three soldiers, first shocked and traumatised a population known for being peaceful. These two isolated criminal attacks led to the cancellation of the 2008 Dakar Rally.

For several days now I have been hearing, here and there, with no voice to answer, that one should no longer go to Mauritania, that it is dangerous.

I invite you to Mauritania.

I invite you because for centuries this country has pursued a singular "politics of civilisation", such as the President of the French Republic recently called for in his own country. This blend of Moorish, Arab-Berber and Black African cultures, this ethnic mingling, this land of fertile exchanges are in many respects — despite underdevelopment — pledges of civilisation. I invite you to Mauritania because here, like nowhere else, a nomadic culture has forged an erudite culture.

I invite you to meet our scholars, our griots, our musicians; to get to know this country with four cities listed by UNESCO as World Heritage sites, this country said to be the land of a million poets. I invite you to visit our universities and our desert libraries. I invite you to Mauritania because the cancellation of a sporting competition must neither erase a country's efforts to build its image in the region and in the world and to keep alive its identity of multiple nations, nor above all encourage the terrorists to keep on frightening us.

I invite you to come to Mauritania just as we kept going, more committed than ever, to Madrid, to London, to New York after far deadlier attacks. Who, after all, would have given up visiting those great countries of Europe, or the United States? The true fight against terrorism is precisely this: unfailing solidarity. It is up to us, through our determination, to strike fear into the barbarians. I invite you to Mauritania, women and men of conscience, so as not to leave your place to those who insult our long and ancient civilisation.