The Israeli Foreign Ministry announced Friday that the country will close its embassy in Mauritania later in the day.

Israeli Ambassador Mickey Arbel will go on leave consequently, the ministry's spokesman Yigal Palmor told Xinhua.

The full diplomatic relations between the Arab country and the Jewish State were frozen on Jan. 16 during Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip, the Foreign Ministry also said in a statement.

Earlier on Friday, Mauritania has ordered staff at Israel's embassy to leave the country within 48 hours, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth's website quoted a senior Mauritanian official as saying.

(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2009)