| I'm cautiously optimistic at this stage, which is probably the wrong thing to be. No one has mentioned how essential shariah will be to institute real democracy. It looks like your usual run of the mill military coup, which will result in elections in two or three years, confirming whoever's at the top of the junta as president for life. But the Islamists would love to have Mauritania, because it's such a primitive place. I'd guess they'll either try for a counter-coup or simply try and set up shop like Ansar al-Islam did in Kurdistan. |
The military council that overthrew Mauritania's president on Wednesday has named the longtime chief of national police force as the country's new leader. A statement by the coup leaders published by the state news agency said Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall was "president" of the military council which toppled President Maaoya Sid Ahmed Ould Taya. The Military Council for Justice and Democracy had earlier announced the coup in a statement run by the state news agency. "The armed forces and security forces have unanimously decided to put an end to the totalitarian practices of the deposed regime under which our people have suffered much over the last several years," the statement said.
The council said it would exercise power for two years to allow time to put in place democratic institutions. Vall, 55, had served as the national police chief since 1987. Known for being calm and tight-lipped, he was considered a close confident of Taya for more than two decades. "The armed forces have unanimously decided to put an end to the totalitarian...regime under which our people have suffered much" The military statement also identified 16 other army officers who were members of the council. It pledged to "establish favourable conditions for an open and transparent democratic system on which civil society and political players will be able to give their opinions freely".
"This council pledges before the Mauritanian people to create favourable circumstances for an open and transparent democracy," it said. An opposition leader and a military source said they believed the head of the presidential guard, Colonel Mohamed Ould Abdel-Aziz, was involved in the coup d'etat. |