Aziz returns to Paris for treatment

2012-11-30 09:34

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. (AFP)

Nouakchott - Mauritania's president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was to return to Paris on Friday for further medical examinations, less than a week after returning from France where he was treated after being shot by a soldier last month.

Abdel Aziz, 55, told a news conference late on Thursday: "I must return to France tomorrow for more analyses and X-rays following an appointment made earlier by the doctors."

Abdel Aziz returned home last Saturday after 40 days recuperating in France after being shot in the intestines on 13 October in what was described as an accident.

Mauritanian opposition parties boycotted celebrations of the country's 52nd anniversary of independence from France on Wednesday to protest against President Abdel Aziz's regime.

A coalition of opposition parties said in a statement they "refuse to take part in a ceremony attended by the president", whose resignation they have demanded in regular protests since 2011.

Abdel Aziz, a former general who seized power in a 2008 coup, was elected a year later. However the opposition has never accepted his rule as legitimate and demands widespread political reforms.

The president's mandate expires in 2014.

Abdel Aziz had been travelling in an unmarked vehicle when he came across a mobile army checkpoint outside the capital. His failure to stop led Lieutenant Elhaj Ould H'Moudy, who was dressed in plain clothes, to open fire.

H'Moudy has said it was a mistake and has not been punished, with the government accepting the shooting was an accident. The opposition has demanded further investigation.

- AFP