01/09/2008
Mauritanian ruling military junta leader General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz announced the formation of a 22-minister government on Monday (September 1st). Prime Minister Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf 's new cabinet will include the defence, finance, economy and justice ministers who served under deposed president President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi. At least three of the ministerial posts were allotted to the opposition Union of Democratic Forces (RFD) of Ahmed Ould Daddah, but the party immediately said those ministers should be considered as having "automatically resigned". Newly-appointed Foreign Minister Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou is a former professor of political science at Harvard University in the United States.
In related news, Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, who led a military coup which overthrew President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya's regime in 2005, returned to Mauritania on Sunday, Reuters reported.