the UN human rights system, establishing a national human rights commission, and amending the constitution to acknowledge Mauritania's ethno-cultural diversity.

But civil rights groups say slavery and racial discrimination are still entrenched in Mauritania and accuse the government of a cover-up. They point to cases such as that of Omar Djibi Sow, 45, who escaped in July after 40 years of slavery, during which he was made to herd camels for his "master".

The Guardian has seen details of two further cases pending before the courts, including one in which a former colonel is accused of enslaving a woman and her son, subjecting them to "psychological pain" and "inhuman and immoral practices".

In another case, a man and his son admitted to enslaving a woman and nine of her children, sayingIsraeli intelligence and three with strong connections to the Zionist Organization of America, to divert enough US government-owned highly-enriched uranium to build several devices in the 1960s. The pillage of NUMEC, a privately-held thinly capitalized Atomic Energy Agency contractor, left behind a toxic mess and hundreds of poisoned, uncompensated victims.

More important than avoiding public knowledge about how Israel built its nuclear program, Israel and its lobby wish to preempt overdue enforcement of the 1976 Symington and Glenn Amendments to the Foreign Assistance Act now embedded in the US Arms Export Control Act. US presidents, upon learning that a non-NPT member is trafficking in nuclear weapons technology and testing nuclear weapons, are supposed to publicly notify Congress and cut off US foreign aid to said country. Israel has not