Mauritania coup leader rejects AU ultimatum

The military coup leader who seized power in Mauritania last month on Saturday rejected an African ultimatum to reinstate President Sidi Ould Sheikh Abdallahi, saying it was not in the country’s best interests.

“The position of the African Union is neither constructive, nor positive. It does not serve the greater interests of the Mauritanian people,” General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz told reporters in Nouakchott.

The African Union had sought the reinstallation of President Abdallahi by October 6.

“It’s unrealistic and illogical,” the junta leader said.

“He is a former president ... We cannot return to the past.”

Earlier this week, the 53-member AU bloc gave Mauritania’s ruling military junta the October 6 deadline to “restore constitutional order” and to reinstate Abdallahi, the country’s first democratically elected president.

Abdallahi, who was ousted from power in the West African country on August 6, has been under house arrest since the coup. His Prime Minister, Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghf, was re-arrested on August 22 and also placed under house arrest.

The junta have since been under pressure from the AU, the United Nations and the international community to reinstate the deposed president, threatening sanctions and isolation.

A statement issued by the presidency of the state council on September 1 said a 22-minister government had been formed with effect from the previous day.

A number of Western powers, including the United States and France, have refused to recognise the military government, denouncing it as “illegitimate”. In a rare press statement on Saturday, Aziz himself admitted that the August coup was “abnormal”.

“We are effectively in an abnormal situation in the absence of an elected president,” he said.

But “you must recognise that all the other constitutional institutions [the National Assembly, the Senate] are working as usual”, he said, while adding that he would hold a presidential election but without specifying when.

The leader of the coup also said the junta were addressing the country’s terrorism threat, after an al-Qaeda-claimed attack on a military patrol on September 14.

“We are determined to tackle terrorism, to defend our country with force and bring peace and security to the people,” he said.

“The army does not have the means to tackle the barbaric and unjustifiable attacks that it has suffered.

“However, the highest authorities and the head of the army are in the process of taking the necessary measures. We have the means to modernise our army and prepare it in an effective way,” he said.—Sapa-AFP