'This is a real coup d'etat'
2008-08-06 14:15
Paris - The daughter of Mauritanian President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi confirmed her father's arrest by a military commando on Wednesday, in an interview with French radio RFI.
"The president has just been arrested by a commando, who came to fetch him, arrested him here and took him away," Amal Mint Cheikh Abdallahi said from the presidency in Nouakchott.
"This is a real coup d'etat," she said.
Abdallahi said armed men were still occupying the presidency and that she was being prevented from leaving the building, but that she had not heard shots fired during the operation to arrest her father.
Troops in the West African nation also arrested Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghf and shut down state radio and television, security sources said.
Mauritania has been facing a political crisis since Monday after 48 MPs walked out on the ruling party less than two weeks after a vote of no confidence in the government prompted a cabinet reshuffle.