Coup leaders assure diplomats

2005-08-05 11:45

Nouakchott - The head of Mauritania's new military junta met with the United States and French ambassadors on Thursday, a day after a coup toppled pro-Western President Maaoya Sid'Ahmed Ould Taya.

The meetings with the envoys of former colonial power France and counter terrorism partner America were among the first colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall held, and appeared designed to assure the international community it had nothing to fear from the new regime.

The junta also issued a statement announcing the dissolution of the country's bicameral legislature.

World leaders condemn coup, locals applaud it

Western and other African nations and the United Nations condemned the coup. The African Union's peace and security council suspended Mauritania on Thursday until "the restoration of constitutional order in the country".

But many Mauritanians applauded the ouster of Taya, saying he was a brutal dictator and they hoped the junta would keep its promise to usher in democracy.

A Mauritanian official said on condition of anonymity that Vall had assured the French and US ambassadors and other diplomats with whom he met later that his junta would quickly arrange elections and hand over to a democratic government.

The junta had indicated in statements on Wednesday it planned no changes in foreign policy.

A bloodless coup

The secretary-general of Taya's party, Boullah Ould Mogueya, said the party would not recognise "anti-constitutional change". Opposition parties also condemned change by force. But one, the Popular Front, welcomed the junta's promise to yield quickly to democracy.

The quick return to calm indicated acceptance of Taya's bloodless overthrow in a nation more accustomed to coups than democracy.

The ouster of Taya, who himself seized power in a coup, had prompted celebrations in the Islamic nation on Wednesday.

Taya arrived on Wednesday in nearby Niger from Saudi Arabia, where he attended King Fahd's funeral.

Junta leader Vall, 55, has served as national police chief since 1987. Known for his calm and reserve, he was considered a close confidant of Taya for more than two decades.

Taya, who seized power in 1984 and tried to legitimise his rule in the 1990s through elections the opposition says were fraudulent and strictly controlled Mauritania.

Ending 'totalitarian' practices

Taya dealt ruthlessly with those who opposed him. He had allied his overwhelmingly Muslim nation with the United States in the war on terror and with Israel.

"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 junta statement said.

Islamist leaders in Mauritania have led the opposition to Taya, criticising him for building close ties with Israel.

Taya had survived several coup attempts, including one in 2003 that led to several days of street fighting in the capital.

- AP