Ugee

Mauritanian Military State Council issues decree

Nouakchott - The State Council, which seized power in Mauritania after a military coup on August 6, announced on Tuesday that it has issued a "constitutional ordinance" to define its powers. "The present constitutional ordinance is to define the temporary powers of the State Council," the junta said in a statement. Last week a group of generals, led by the former head of the presidential guard General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, ousted Mauritania's first democratically elected president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi in a bloodless coup. The move came just hours after the president announced plans to replace the army's top brass. The coup has been unanimously condemned by the international community with the US and France also suspending all non-humanitarian and food aid to the West African nation. The text issued on Tuesday gives the state council "the necessary powers to reorganise and manage state affairs during the period needed for the organising of presidential elections... in the shortest possible time." It adds that the powers of the president as defined by the Mauritanian constitution "will be exercised together by the State Council" comprised of 11 military men including Ould Abdel Aziz. The junta leader is also given the power to appoint a prime minister and military officials and civil servants in Mauritania. Mauritania's prime minister prior to the coup, Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghf, was freed on Monday. According to security sources Monday, Abdallahi was being held in a villa on the grounds of the Nouakchott congress centre.

 

< Prev		Next >