Qaeda claims Israel embassy attack in Mauritania -TV

DUBAI, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for an attack on the Israeli embassy in Mauritania and demanded Arab states have no ties with the Jewish state, Al Jazeera Television said on Sunday.

Gunmen opened fire on the Israeli embassy in Mauritania early on Friday, wounding at least three people but hurting no embassy staff.

Al Jazeera showed what it said was a written statement from an al Qaeda-affiliated group but did not say how it obtained it.

The claim has yet to appear on the Islamist Web sites normally used by al Qaeda-linked organisations.

Some witnesses said the attackers, who numbered at least three, shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) as they exchanged fire with guards at the fortified embassy.

The attack followed recent public calls by political parties in Mauritania, an Islamic Republic which straddles black and Arab Africa, for the government to sever diplomatic ties with Israel.

The western Saharan country is one of three Arab countries to have relations with the Jewish state. (Writing by Lin Noueihed; editing by Robert Woodward)