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Mauritania calm after army says it has taken power
NOUAKCHOTT - Mauritaniaâs capital was calm on Thursday as the country waited for announcements from a group of officers who said they had seized power to end more than two decades of âtotalitarianâ rule by the president. Triumphant crowds cheered a statement broadcast on state media on Wednesday that President Maaouya Ould SidâAhmed Taya had been overthrown in an apparently bloodless coup, the latest in a series of attempts to oust him in recent years. Officers said in the statement signed by the âMilitary Council for Justice and Democracyâ that they would rule for up to two years in the West African country, which aims to start pumping offshore oil next year.Opposition leaders welcomed the prospect of a change of government, but said the army must not outstay its welcome. âIn this crisis situation, a regime change was inevitable. But we would have wished that this be done in a controlled democratic way with all the parties involved,â said Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, president of the Popular Progressive Alliance. Many people headed to work as usual in the capital early on Thursday. Traffic flowed freely and small groups of soldiers guarded key buildings, though in smaller numbers than on Wednesday, witnesses said. State radio said the 17-member military council would be headed by Colonel Ely Ould Mohammad Vall, naming a list of members comprised of officers in the countryâs various security forces. The African Union, South Africa and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan all condemned the seizure of power by force in Mauritania, a country of 2.9 million people. The United States demanded that Taya be restored to power. âWe join the African Union in condemning the violence in Mauritania. And we call for a peaceful return for order under the constitution and the established government of President Taya,â State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters. A Western oil executive, who declined to be named, said the apparent support of senior figures in the security establishment would bolster the coup leadersâ position, although they may still come under international pressure. âIf your chief of police and your head of national security have gone you have got to wonder how many friends you have got left, itâs now a diplomatic game, the question is whether anyone is going to come to Tayaâs side,â he said, adding that the countryâs close-knit society may discourage violence. âIn Mauritania everybody is everybody elseâs brother or cousin, so they are not going to start fighting in the streets,â he said. Posted by: Steve 2005-08-04 |
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