Mauritanian junta leaders form new cabinet

02/09/2008

The leaders of Mauritania's August 6th coup d'état announced a new cabinet on Monday, despite continued opposition both at home and abroad to President Abdellahi's removal from power.

Mohamed Yahya Ould Abdel Wedoud in Nouakchott contributed to this report – 02/09/08

[Mohamed Yahya Ould Abdel Wedoud] Mauritania's newly-announced cabinet will be housed in this compound. While international reactions are firmly unsupportive of the country's junta, domestic reactions are mixed.

Mauritania's High State Council, led by coup d'état leader General Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz formed an interim government on Monday (September 1st), despite domestic and international opposition to the military junta that deposed democratically-elected President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdellahi.

Under the premiership of Mauritania's former ambassador to the European Union, Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf, the interim government is composed of 22 ministers, many of whom are technocrats unknown to the public.

Most of the ministers in the new cabinet supported the coup. Several ministers, including those for Defence, Finance, Economy and Justice, served under Abdellahi.

Many members of parliament praised the new government and announced the formation of a committee to meet with the junta leaders in order to plan for the future.

"We are seeking to meet with the President of the state to determine a clear agenda," government spokesperson Sayyid Mohammed Ould Mohammed told Aljazeera.

Mohammed Salem, President of Popular Initiatives Rally, told Magharebia, "The members of the new government have the necessary competence for the interim period, which will be capped with the election of a president who will lead the country and the people patriotically."

The new government was rejected by Mauritania's National Front for the Defence of Democracy (FNDD), a coalition of four parties that denounced Abdel Aziz's August 6th bloodless coup. On Monday, the FNDD said "the formation of the government is an escalatory move and it embodies the coup leaders'… insistence on infringing upon legitimacy."

Although at least three ministers belonging to the opposition Rally of Democratic Forces (RFD) were named to the new cabinet, party leader Ahmed Ould Daddah stated that the three should be considered as having "automatically resigned". The RFD said earlier that it would not take part in the next government.

The African Union suspended Mauritania following the coup and the World Bank protested Abdel Aziz's takeover by suspending $175m in aid. The US and France had also suspended some non-humanitarian aid. Now, however, with the announcement of the new cabinet, Washington and Paris are considering sanctions that would directly target members of the junta.

French foreign ministry assistant spokesman Eric Chevalier said on Monday that Paris considers the new Mauritanian government "illegitimate" and reiterated France's calls for Abdellahi to be released.

"France is ready to take individual sanctions measures against the main leaders of the junta," a separate statement from French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said.

"We are considering personal sanctions against those who are an obstacle to the return of constitutional order," said US Ambassador Mark Boulware. "Clearly we could consider individuals named in the government in that group."

As of Monday, President Abdellahi remained in detention in the capital. Although he was recently visited by representatives of France and the African Union, no details of the meeting were released. Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef continued to be under house arrest in Moudjéria, his birthplace in the eastern part of the country.