Anti-coup coalition to protest
2008-10-03 19:14
Nouchakchott - A coalition of Mauritanian pro-democracy parties said on Friday they would go ahead with a demonstration in the capital Nouakchott this weekend in defiance of a ban by the military authorities.
"We have informed the government of the protest march as the law requires," said Omar Ould Yali, deputy leader of the People's Progressive Alliance, one of five political parties in the national front for the defence of democracy.
Although the authorities had told them that the march could not proceed "we have decided to have the march while we remain open to dialogue," he added.
The front has called for a protest march and a "Day for Democracy" on Sunday, the day before an ultimatum by the AU for Mauritania to return to constitutional order is set to expire.
On August 6 a military junta, led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, ousted Mauritania's first democratically elected president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.
The coup was widely condemned by the international community and on September 22 the AU issued an ultimatum to the West African nation to reinstate Ould Cheikh Abdallahi "by October 6 at the latest".
The authorities have said in a letter that "all protests of a political order organised in the public space are banned until further notice".
- SAPA