Nouakchott, Mauritania (CNN) -- As a member of Mauritania's slave-owning class, Abdel Nasser Ould Ethmane could have had anything he wanted as a present for his circumcision ceremony: a toy, money, a camel, or, as his brother would choose, a bicycle.But the 7-year-old wanted something more sinister.
He chose Yebawa Ould Keihel, a young boy with skin the color of coal. At that moment, Abdel became a slave master.
It's an experience that's common here in Mauritania, a vast country in West Africa's Sahara Desert where activists and the United Nations estimate 10% to 20% of people are enslaved -- usually dark-skinned people who have lighter-skinned masters.
For the owners of slaves, a group of Arab people called the White Moors who raided sub-Saharan Africa for slaves centuries ago, this is no big deal.
"It was as if I were picking out a toy," Abdel, now 47, said of choosing Yebawa as his slave. Read More
