Senior Mauritanian army officers took over the country’s Presidential Palace in the capital Nouakchott on Wednesday in what is emerging as a bloodless coup.
The head of the Presidential Guard is currently holding President Sidi Ould Sheikh ‘Abdallahi (pictured), Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmad Waqf and the interior minister in the compound.
The initiators of the coup are the top brass of Mauritania’s security forces, who were fired on Wednesday morning by presidential decree. They include former head of the Presidential Guard, General Muhammad Ould ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz, former army chief of staff, General Muhammad Ould Al-Ghazwani, ex head of the National Guard, General Philippe Swikri, and former head of the Mauritanian police, Brigadier General (Aqid) Ahmad Ould Bakri.
Rebel forces are currently controlling all state institutions.
Radio and television stations were also taken over and ceased broadcasting.
The coup comes as Mauritania, located in West Africa, is embroiled in a wider political crisis.
Forty eight MPs from the ruling National Pact for Democracy and Development resigned on Monday and announced they were forming a new party.
The resignation means the ruling party no longer has a majority in parliament.
They accused the president of exerting personal power and said public funds were being misappropriated.
Prime Minister Waqf unveiled a new government last month, the third government in 15 months. It included no members of opposition parties.
The premier before Waqf resigned after a year in power – a period which was marked by a food crisis and deadly attacks carried out by assailants thought to be linked to Al-Qa’ida.
Waqf came to power in April but his government resigned on July 3 after only seven weeks in power, before critics from within the ruling party were set to file a no-confidence motion.
The MPs were accusing the government of failing to introduce an economic and social policy program.
Mauritania is member of the Arab League. The vast majority of its 3.3 million-strong population is Muslim.
