Mauritania begins poll talks

2008-12-28 13:14

Nouakchott - Talks aimed at organising elections in Mauritania began on Saturday, almost five months after a military coup ousted the country's first democratically elected president.

The meeting, attended by political party leaders, lawmakers, civil society heads and religious chiefs, opened with a reading from the Koran to mark the death of Palestinians by Israeli raids in the Gaza Strip and a minute silence.

Coup leader General Ould Abdel Aziz promised to respect the different participants' decisions and recommendations during the consultations which he said are open to "every Mauritanian, without exception".

Organisers say the talks, expected to last until January 5, will focus on fixing a date for a new presidential election, proposing constitutional amendments and re-evaluating the army's role in the political process.

French, German and Spanish diplomats and ambassadors from 67 other countries were attending the talks.

The National Front for the Defence of Democracy (FNDD) - a coalition of parties, unions and NGOs opposed to the coup - and ex-president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, who was released from house arrest last weekend, are boycotting the talks.

But in a televised debate on Friday, the FNDD president said it supports dialogue and never received an invitation.

"The authorities did not invite us to discuss the talks aimed at restoring democracy. They summoned us to a meeting that we knew nothing about," said Boijel Ould Houmeid.

Elected in March 2007 after 30 years of military rule, Abdallahi was ousted in the August 6 coup, hours after he issued a decree firing the military's top brass, including Ould Abdel Aziz.

- AFP