Govt continues despite coup

2005-08-05 09:36

Noukchott - The army officers who seized power in Mauritania moved to strengthen their hold on the arid northwest African country on Thursday, dissolving parliament but keeping the ministers of deposed leader Maaouiya Ould Taya at their posts.

In a statement broadcast on national radio, the coup leaders' military council for justice and democracy also said the previous constitution would be maintained, although supplemented by a "military council charter".

Meanwhile thousands of citizens spilled onto the streets of the capital Nouakchott to demonstrate support for the regime, after a day in which life appeared to have returned to normal following the coup on Wednesday.

High hopes for a better future

"We are used to coups, but we hope this one will bring us a better future," said teacher Sidaty Ould Cherif.

"Everyone is pleased at what has happened," said a young woman.

Vall had earlier asked the existing government to stay on "for the moment" and ministers were working normally in their offices on Thursday, said sources.

The military council also began interviews with foreign ambassadors, with Vall meeting envoys from Arab, African and Western nations, including France and the United States, at the presidential palace, official sources said.

United States ambassador Joseph LeBaron told council members that Washington "condemned this extra-constitutional action and demanded the restoration of constitutional order", according to a US official in Washington who asked not to be named.

Coup internationally condemned

Britain, the European Union, and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan took a similar stance and the African Union (AU) suspended Mauritania's membership, despite the junta's pledge to restore democracy in two years.

On Wednesday, troops led by the presidential guard seized key buildings in the capital while Ould Taya, seen as a US ally, was out of the country at Saudi King Fahd's funeral in Riyadh. The ousted leader, unable to return home, was given refuge in the West African state of Niger.

Hospital and military sources on Thursday said no one was hurt during the coup and dismissed reports of shooting in the capital as warning shots.

The junta said in a statement after the coup military and security forces had acted to end the regime's "totalitarian practices" and pledged to hand over power to civilians within two years after bedding down democratic institutions.

The AU, which has a policy not to recognise regimes that take power through force, on Thursday suspended Mauritania's membership of the pan-continental group.

The AU said it would send a delegation to the Mauritanian capital to meet members of the new ruling military council.

And in Senegal, which borders Mauritania to the south, President Abdoulaye Wade called for democracy in the country, although he did not demand a return to the previous regime.

- AFP