10/10/2008
At a press conference on Thursday (October 9th), Mauritania's National Front for the Defence of Democracy (FNDD) again called for the reinstatement of democratically elected president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, ousted by the military junta during the August 6th coup. They denounced the violence against the anti-coup demonstrations on Sunday and Wednesday, and stressed that demonstrations are justified by the constitution, while torture is a prohibited practice.
Meanwhile, coup leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz told Voice of America Thursday that to restore constitutional order in the country, he has called for an election time-table and a decision on the eligibility of the candidates to run in the presidential elections.