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AU
will suspend Mauritania: Chair
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 DAR
ES SALAAM(August 11,2008)- The
African Union will suspend Mauritania until democracy is restored
in the West African nation where soldiers overthrew the president
this week, AU chair Tanzania said on Saturday.
The continental body's move is the latest international condemnation
of a coup that at home has received a mixture of support and muted
criticism from various political camps but, by now, is largely being
met with indifference by the population.
"African Union will suspend Mauritania until the country returns
to a constitutional government," Tanzanian Foreign Affairs Minister
Bernard Membe said on behalf of the AU.
Membe said Mauritania had signed several AU conventions banning illegal
changes of government, including one last month.
Soldiers led by the presidential guard overthrew Sidi Mohamed Ould
Cheikh Abdallahi, the country's first democratically elected president
since independence in 1974, on Wednesday after he tried to sack senior
officers.
The country straddles black and Arab Africa and is an ally of the
United States in the war against terrorism. Militant attacks in Mauritania
over the past year have underscored fears al Qaeda's north African
wing was spreading its influence south.
The country's new leaders, led by presidential guard chief Mohamed
Ould Abdel Aziz, have promised elections.
But condemnation of the coup outside Mauritania has been widespread
and Washington has frozen all non-humanitarian aid to the country,
which is also one of the continent's newest oil producers.
Ahmed Ben Hilli, the Arab League's assistant secretary general for
political affairs, said on Saturday he had met Abdel Aziz, whom he
called "the president", and he was assured of a return to
democracy but given no date for polls.
Abdel Aziz does not appear ready to bow to pressure for now.
"We will not release the deposed president at the time being
for security reasons.
We are now trying to make calm prevail and avoiding escalation,"
he told London-based Arabic-language newspaper Asharq al-Awsat in
remarks published on Saturday.
Abdel Aziz did not specify the security reasons or give any details
on promised elections but asked for understanding.
"We ask our Arab brothers and our friends to understand the position
and we will share our reasons with them. The problem that happened
in Mauritania is an internal affair," he said.
NO NEED FOR RECOGNITION
Abdallahi won elections last year after a 2005 coup also instigated
by Abdel Aziz, which ended years of dictatorship, but he faced growing
opposition from parliamentarians and the army, which has long played
a key role in Mauritanian politics.
After some minor anti-coup demonstrations, a group called the National
Front for the Defence of Democracy has emerged. But amid a social
crisis, accentuated by high food and fuel prices, there has also been
support for the coup on street.
By Saturday, however, many Mauritanians were merely getting on with
life. "Nothing has changed," said businessman Sidi Ethman
Chiekh. "The EU and the U.S. have condemned it, there are politicians
who are for and against ... but life continues."
While promising a return to democracy, Abdel Aziz warned: "We
do not need recognition for our regime."
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