Witnesses on Tuesday said two gunmen shot and killed an American man as he was leaving his car in Nouakchott, the capital city of Mauritania.  The man was a computer science professor in El Kasr, a lower class neighborhood. 

The men initially tried to kidnap the American, but when he resisted, they pointed their guns and shot many times in the head and face.  The gunmen are believed to be part of al-Qaeda’s North African branch.