Mauritania calls back Israel ambassador for talks

NOUAKCHOTT, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Mauritania has called back its ambassador to Israel for consultation, a source at the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

Protesters took to the streets of the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott last week to demand that the Islamic country sever diplomatic ties with Israel after the Jewish state launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

"We have recalled our ambassador in Tel Aviv for consultations," said the source who declined to be named, adding that the ambassador was on his way back.

The northwest African state is one of only three Arab countries to have diplomatic relations with Israel, along with Egypt and Jordan.

The ambassador, Ahmed Ould Teguedi, has held his post since Mauritania opened relations with the Jewish state in 1999.

Gunmen attacked the Israeli embassy in Nouakchott last February after political parties called for then-President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi to break off ties with Israel to reflect anger over events in Gaza.

Protests against the latest attacks in Gaza, which have killed more than 500 people, have broken out across the Arab world, while diplomats have called for a ceasefire. (Reporting by Hachem Sidi Salem; Additional reporting by Vincent Fertey; Writing by Daniel Magnowski; Editing by Alistair Thomson and Elizabeth Piper)