NOUAKCHOTT, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- The first American Information and Resource Center (IRC) was on Wednesday inaugurated in Nouakchott by the American ambassador to Mauritania, Mark Boulware.

    The American diplomat recalled in his speech that president Barack Obama had before anything else in his foreign policy towards Africa, insisted on the importance of democracy and good governance and had stretched his hand towards the Muslim world with an aim of beginning a new era of respect and mutual understanding.

    This American cultural center is hosted under the American diplomatic mission and is comprised of 2000 books in English, French and Arabic languages. The oldest foreign cultural center in Nouakchott was the Saint Exupery French Cultural Center which was created in 1965.