Mauritania's new army rulers ordered the release on Sunday of around 20 Islamist activists who had been jailed by ousted President Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya for their alleged links with a group allied to al Qaeda.
| That's the bad sign I've been expecting... |
In a move designed to reassure political parties, the junta also appointed a civilian prime minister, Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar, to head a caretaker government. The detainees freed on Sunday were part of a group of some 60 people arrested by security forces since April in a clampdown on Islamist activists and politicians which critics say was an excuse to stifle dissent. ``This is a new era, a page has been turned,'' said Moctar Ould Mohamed Moussa, one of the released prisoners, as he walked out of the main civilian prison in the capital Nouakchott to be met by cheering relatives.
| So now, back to work, setting up his private Islamic army. Next step will be for a few people to be killed for insulting Islam... |
The detained activists had been accused by Taya's government of colluding with the Algerian-based Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), a movement allied to al Qaeda. But many Mauritanian Arabs say Taya overstated the Islamist threat to justify a crackdown on opponents and curry favor with the United States -- whose military trained his army to fight radical militants thought to be active in the Sahara desert. ``The Islamists are the majority in Mauritania. They do not preach violence. The former president rounded them as extremists so as to win support from the West,'' said Yacoub Ould Moine, a university maths professor who was standing outside the prison.
| We'll wait and see. I imagine a state as close to being failed as Mauritania is going to attract Qaeda like flies. |
A source close to the military junta told Reuters half a dozen prisoners would stay in jail after they admitted ties to the GSPC. The cases of other detainees were being reviewed. Opposition leaders said the new prime minister had once been one of Taya's men, but should be given the benefit of the doubt. ``He is someone from the old regime but he is someone who wants change,'' Mohamed Ould Maouloud, leader of a moderate opposition party, told Reuters. ``We will judge him by his work,'' he said. |