Africa

Africa

Military coup in Mauritania, President and Prime Minister arrested

06 August 2008 13:53 (UTC +04:00)

Mauritania â€“APA. The sacked commander of the Mauritanian presidential guards has taken control of the presidential palace in Nouakchott, Army units were reported to have surrounded a the presidential palace in the capital. Both Mauritanian television and radio went off air, with army units said to have surrounded Mauritanian television’s main building.APA reports quoting Al Jazeera.Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, the president, was seized on Wednesday along with the country’s interior minister and Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghf, Mauritania’s prime minister. Resignation of 48 deputies from the leading party on August 4 caused political crisis in the country. But the new government resigned last month in the face of a proposed no-confidence vote and a new one was formed.
Mauritania placed in north-west of Africa. Its territory is 1 mln 30.000 700 square meter, population is 300 million.