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2003-06-08 East/Subsaharan Africa
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Mauritania âfoils coup attemptâ
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The authorities in Mauritania are reported to have put down an attempted coup. Tank and small arms fire was heard early on Sunday around the presidential building and at the airport near the capital, Nouakchott. There was also shooting around television and radio stations. Government sources quoted by the French news agency AFP say disgruntled elements within the army had carried out the coup attempt and had been defeated.
It would be quite a coincidence if the coup plotters didn't have anything to do with the alleged Islamists jugged the other day. If they were, it would be similar to the coup attempt in Qatar by Islamist minded officers that never officially happened.
More info, from AllAfrica.com...
Abidjan: There was heavy fighting around the presidential palace and army headquarters in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott on Sunday morning as a faction of the army attempted to depose President Maaouiya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya in a coup. Residents in Nouakchott contacted by telephone from Cote d'Ivoire on Sunday morning, said gunfire broke out around the presidential palace at around 1am and had continued sporadically since then. Neither side appeared to be in full control of the situation.
One Mauritanian resident in Nouakchott told IRIN: "I am about 800 metres from the presidential palace and all the streets leading to it are blocked by rebel forces...I can hear continuous bursts of machine gun fire and occasional tank rounds." There rebels had surrounded the presidential palace and were attacking it with tanks and machine guns, he added. The resident said the army was split, but the gendarmerie appeared to be supporting President Ould Taya, who himself came to power in a military coup in 1984. Many people in the street said the rebels were led by a colonel and troops from the military garrison in Atar, a desert town 440 km northeast of Nouakchott.
However, a foreign diplomat in the capital who is following the situation closely said he had no information about who was behind the coup attempt or what kind of political interests the rebel faction represented. "There was a coup attempt overnight and there is sporadic fighting, but my understanding is that President Ould Taya is still in control," he said. The diplomat said there had been fighting at the presidential palace and at the army headquarters, which are less than one km away, but the rest of the city appeared calm. He said it was not clear whether or not the military uprising was linked to a crackdown on Islamic militants by President Taya since the overthrow of Sadaam Hussein in Iraq. Dozens of Islamic radicals and opposition activists were arrested in May and the Arabic language weekly newspaper Erraya was closed down last week for "subversion and intolerance."
Although Mauritania is officially a multi-party democracy, Ould Taya has in practice imposed strong curbs on opposition activities in this mainly desert nation of less than three million people. The main opposition parties boycotted an election in 1997 which confirmed Ould Taya in power for a six-year term. Tension had been growing ahead of fresh presidential elections due in December.
Another followup, different story from AllAfrica.com...
Military movements and heavy artillery fire were reported early Sunday around the presidentâs palace in Nouakchott, but reports from the capital of the northwestern African nation say an attempted coup has failed. President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya and his family are reported to be safe. Taya has been under increasing pressure since the arrest earlier this month of 32 fundamentalist Islamists, whose trial opened last week Nouakchott. The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is one of only three Arab countries to have established diplomatic relations with Israel. According to a witness contacted by phone, the U.S. embassy located close to the presidentâs palace was not attacked during the heavy gunfire, despite earlier reports that the facility had come under fire. 
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Posted by Paul Moloney 2003-06-08 02:54 am||
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Posted by Mark IV 2003-06-08 09:14:51||
2003-06-08 09:14:51||
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Posted by Becky 2003-06-08 23:54:29||
2003-06-08 23:54:29||
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Posted by Liberalhawk 2003-06-09 00:22:08||
2003-06-09 00:22:08||
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Posted by Anon1 2003-06-09 01:24:41||
2003-06-09 01:24:41||
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