OT: Coup in Mauritania

[beam]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5187370,00.html

 

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (AP) - A military junta overthrew Mauritania's U.S.-allied president on Wednesday, saying it would temporarily rule this oil-rich Islamic nation that had looked increasingly to the West as the government raised fears of a growing threat from al-Qaida linked militants.

 

President Maaoya Sid'Ahmed Taya, who himself seized power in a coup two decades ago, was out of the country when presidential guard troops took control of the national radio and television stations earlier Wednesday, cutting broadcasts and seizing a building housing the army chief of staff headquarters.

 

Taya, who has allied himself with the United States in the war on terror and cracked down ruthlessly on opponents he accuses of being Islamic extremists, refused comment after arriving Wednesday in nearby Niger from Saudi Arabia, where he attended King Fahd's funeral.

 

The opposition and some international groups have accused Taya of exaggerating the threat of Islamic extremism in his nation to gain diplomatic support.

 

The U.S. military has sent special operations troops to train Mauritania's army, most recently in June as part of an anti-terror campaign in Africa.

 

After the coup was announced, most shops and offices remained closed, but hundreds of people celebrated in the capital of Nouakchott, saluting soldiers guarding the presidential palace, clapping and singing slogans in Arabic against Taya.

 

``It's the end of a long period of oppression and injustice,'' said Fidi Kane, a civil servant. ``We are very delighted with this change of regime.''

 

African leaders, however, condemned the power grab, saying the days of autocracy and military rule must give way to democracy across the continent.

 

``As far as we are concerned, the days of tolerating military governance in our sub-region or anywhere are long gone,'' said Femi Fani-Kayode, a spokesman for Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. ``We believe in democracy and we insist on democracy.''

 

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan also condemned ``any attempt to change the government of any country unconstitutionally,'' according to a statement.

 

The group of Mauritanian army officers, which identified itself as the Military Council for Justice and Democracy, announced the coup in a statement to the state-run news agency.

 

``The armed 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 junta said it would exercise power for up to two years to allow time to put in place ``open and transparent'' democratic institutions.

 

Cabinet ministers and army officials either could not be reached or refused to comment on the coup. No private broadcasters are allowed to operate in the tightly controlled nation of 3 million people.

 

Taya held talks at the airport with Niger President Mamadou Tandja before traveling to a villa in Niger's capital of Niamey, where officials said he might stay for several days.

 

Oil recently was discovered in reserves offshore and Mauritania is expected to begin pumping crude for the first time early next year, but industry analysts said the coup was unlikely to significantly affect global oil prices.

 

``With the markets being so edgy, the news may potentially have some impact but I doubt it,'' said energy analyst Orrin Middleton with Barclays Capital in London.

 

Islamic leaders in the West African nation have led the opposition to Taya, criticizing him for opening full diplomatic relations with Israel six years ago.

 

Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev declined to comment on the coup but said the Israeli Embassy in Mauritania was operating normally, although extra security precautions had been taken.

 

Taya jailed scores of Islamists and members of the army he accused of being terrorists or of plotting to overthrew him after a 2003 coup attempt and said a deadly June 4 border raid on an army post from across the border in Algeria by an al-Qaida-linked group proved the seriousness of the threat from Islamic extremists.

 

The Salafist Group for Call and Combat, which is on the U.S. list of terrorist groups, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the assault was ``in revenge for our brothers who were arrested in the last round of detentions in Mauritania.''

 

Taya, who is in his 60s, also supported Saddam during the 1991 Gulf War, but switched alliances dramatically in the late 1990s - breaking diplomatic ties with Iraq.

 

Earlier Wednesday, a short burst of automatic gunfire was heard near the presidential palace, where three anti-aircraft truck batteries were set up at midmorning. No casualties were reported.

 

Heavily armed army troops also deployed extra troops around ministerial offices and the presidential palace. They patrolled the streets in force, blocking key roads and several entrances to the city, and the international airport in Nouakchott was closed, military officials there said.

 

Taya had survived several coup attempts during his 20-year reign, including the 2003 effort to overthrow him that led to several days of street fighting in the capital. He took power in a 1984 military coup and tried to legitimize his rule in the 1990s through elections the opposition says were fraudulent.

[Ravelleman]

Well that's just ruined my day.

[LeBraniac]

farm out:eek:

[DrSquirley]

 

Originally posted by Ravelleman Well that's just ruined my day.

 

 

Why?

[Jugghaid]

Well, there goes my next goddamn vacation.

[beam]

Well the forumites here are the LAST ones I would have expected to be sarcastic:eek:

[Ravelleman]

 

Originally posted by DrSquirley Why?

 

 

I'll let you in on a little secret. It hasn't really.

[niomosy]

Originally posted by Jugghaid Well, there goes my next goddamn vacation.

 

Why? Just think of the discounted rates you'll get on hotel and airfare!

[fretless]

stay tuned for counter coup

[Jugghaid]

Originally posted by beam Well the forumites here are the LAST ones I would have expected to be sarcastic:eek:

 

Just one of those days bro.

[beam]

Originally posted by Jugghaid Just one of those days bro.

 

 

I just figured it was interesting news from one of the world's less stable regions

[Zamfir]

Guess we have to amend the old line regarding "friends" in Latin America and Asia (as if Cold War Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran weren't enough):

 

 

"He may be a bastard, but he's OUR bast--{censored}! What'd they do with our bastard??"

 

 

 

 

I feel more encouraged with this latest development in the war-on-terror-trumping-democratization, don't you?