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| Africa: North |
| New 'colonels' regime' faces outside pressure |
| 2005-08-06 |
| Mauritania was calm Thursday amid signs of national approval of the ousting of President Maaouyia Ould Taya, despite foreign condemnation of the coup in the oil-rich northwest African country. Hospital and military sources said the coup, staged Wednesday while Ould Taya was in Saudi Arabia for King Fahd's funeral, was entirely bloodless, and dismissed firing heard in Nouakchott as warning shots. Officials of all three hospitals in the city said they had received no casualties from bullet wounds or other violent injuries. A police officer who backed the coup told AFP, "we did not face any incident requiring the use of force." The capital was returning to normal Thursday, with businesses and government offices reopening and traffic resuming, while the presence of troops on the streets was greatly reduced. The airport, closed for several hours Wednesday, was also operating normally, and unlike previous coups in a country which has known long periods of military rule, no curfew was imposed or checkpoints set up. Some residents had spent much of the night driving through the streets in small convoys, sounding their horns in approval of the ousting of Ould Taiya, who had kept Mauritania in a tight grip for more than two decades since seizing power, also in a bloodless coup. Witnesses contacted by telephone said the rest of the country was also calm as it awaited the next moves from the new ruling Military Council for Justice and Democracy, chaired by Colonel Ely Ould Mohammed Vall, the country's police chief, and comprising 16 colonels and a naval commander. The announcement of the coup, several hours after troops took over key buildings in Nouakchott, said, "The military and the security forces have unanimously decided to put an end to the totalitarian practices of the regime from which our people have suffered so much in the last years." The new junta 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. "The military and security forces do not intend to hold power for longer than a period of two years, which is considered essential to prepare and establish true democratic institutions," the statement said. It also vowed to respect all international treaties and conventions already ratified by Mauritania. The news brought hundreds of people on to the streets of Nouakchott in apparently spontaneous demonstrations of support, but opposition political parties Thursday called for the new rulers to put their promises into effect swiftly. The Union of Forces of Progress called for "respect for the republican framework of the state and the formation of a transitional government of national union, representative of the political spectrum." The Popular Front hailed the stated objectives of the junta and called for rapid changes, including "the opening of an era of tolerance and the release of all prisoners of conscience." But Ould Taya's Republican Democratic and Social Party called on all Mauritanians to reject "anti-constitutional change" and said it supported the former regime. Sources close to the junta said no member of Ould Taya's government had been detained or interrogated by the new leadership. Military officers contacted by AFP indicated the coup had been popular among the armed forces. One, who had not joined in the rebellion, said "the proof is that there was no resistance or hesitation following the coup, with units swiftly rallying to the change." There was no immediate reaction from the country's Islamists, who in recent months had been targeted by Ould Tahya in a crackdown on dubious allegations that they were linked to terrorism. As the ousted president was given refuge in Niger, the coup was condemned by the African Union, the European Union, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and the United States. But the Arab League, of which Mauritania is a member, was slow to react, as was virtually every other African country. The AU reaffirmed its "total rejection of any unconstitutional change of government and the importance of respect for constitutional order," while Annan's spokesman said he "condemns any attempt to change the government of any country unconstitutionally" and insists that political disagreements be settled peacefully through democratic means. Britain, speaking as holder of the EU presidency, said it "condemns any attempt to seize power by force" and "calls upon all sides to ensure full respect for democracy, human rights and the rule of law." Washington, which saw Ould Taya as an ally in the "war against terrorism" despite criticising abuses of his regime, called for the ousted president to be reinstated. Israel also condemned the coup but said it would wait to see how it would affect ties with one of the only three Arab countries with which it has diplomatic relations. But there was no immediate threat of international sanctions, while Australian oil company Woodside Petroleum said its offshore drilling operations in Mauritania had been unaffected by the coup. Mauritania sits on some one billion barrels of oil and 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas, according to the government, but has scarcely begun production. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 The only thing the junta can do that would both give them tremendous international credibility and give one in the eye to the African Dictator's Union, would be to immediately forward a request to the US, the EU and the UN, in that order, to provide assistance in democracy building, transparency, and neutral oversight of their national elections. This would piss off Bob and the others so much they would want to invade to stop it. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-08-06 17:19 |
| #2 When is Taya's return flight booked? |
| Posted by: Captain America 2005-08-06 01:20 |
| #1 Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2005-08-06 00:29 |