Mauritania president Abdallahi arrested in coup

From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Mauritania

Other stories from Mauritania

• 6 March 2009: Mauritania cuts ties with Israel, expels Israeli diplomats
• 21 December 2008: Deposed Mauritanian president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi is released
• 6 August 2008: Mauritania president Abdallahi arrested in coup
• 29 January 2008: Mauritanian refugees begin returning home from Senegal
• 6 January 2008: 2008 Dakar Rally cancelled over terrorist threat

...More articles here

Location of Mauritania

To write, edit, start or view other articles on Mauritania, see the Mauritania Portal

Mauritania's President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghf were arrested Wednesday in a military coup in Nouakchott, the country's capital. The coup has shut down state radio and television.

Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, who was the President of Mauritania until the coup
Image: Marcello Casal Jr./Abr.

"The security agents of the BASEP [Presidential Security Battalion] came to our home around 9:20 and took away my father," Amal Mint Cheikh Abdallahi said, confirming that presidential guardsmen seized her father.

Soldiers gathered at the presidential palace after Abdallahi replaced senior army officers during a political crisis in the northwest African country, one of the continent's newest oil producers which also mines iron, copper and gold.

A state council is forming under the command of former presidential guard chief Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz. The council's "Statement No. 1", which was broadcast by Gulf-based al-Arabiya television, announced that Abdallahi is now a "former president" and that his previous decision of sacking Abdelaziz as the head of the presidential guard had been voided.

The country, which has a long history of military coups, staged free elections in June 2007, two years after a previous coup.

Sources

• "Coup in Mauritania as president, PM arrested". AFP, August 6, 2008
• "Mauritania coup leaders seize President, PM". ABC, August 6, 2008
• "Troops stage coup in Mauritania". BBC, August 6, 2008
• Vincent Fertey and Ibrahima Sylla "Mauritania forces stage coup after officers sacked". Reuters, August 6, 2008
  

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable. Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators. Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections. Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.