Summary:
A suicide bomber in Mauritanian territory has killed a diplomat and set himself alight, a security source has said.

Full article:
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 10:18 EST, 26 July 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 10:18 EST, 26 July 2012 . A Mauritanian diplomat died after setting himself alight on Wednesday night, an act apparently linked to the recent death of his younger brother. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a security source in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott said: 'The man sprayed his whole body with petrol before setting it alight, the fire completely consumed him in the street despite efforts of passers-by to save him.' A member of the 50-year-old man's family quoted in local media said he had been posted in Kuwait as a diplomat, but had returned to his homeland after his younger brother died, which 'affected him a great deal'. Deeply religious: The central mosque in Mouakchott, Mauritania. Sources say a man who committed suicide had spoken about it but was not taken seriously because he was Muslim . The source said the as-yet unnamed man had said several times that he planned to set himself ablaze, but 'nobody believed him due to his age and his behaviour as a good Muslim'. Suicide is forbidden by Islam, which considers it to be voluntary homicide punished by going to hell. The suicide is particularly shocking as it occurred in the Islamic religious month of Ramadan.