Mauritanian's pet is overthrown from the leadership!!
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2005 2:44 pm
Asalaamu Caleykum Waraxmatullaahi Wabarakaatuh my dear brothers & sisters in Islam and peace to non Muslim
Bacadu Salaam,
Mauritania junta frees jailed Islamists, names PM By Nick Tattersall
40 minutes ago
NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) - Mauritania's new army rulers ordered the release on Sunday of around 20 Islamist activists who had been jailed by ousted President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya for their alleged links with a group allied to al Qaeda.
.
In a move designed to reassure political parties, the junta also appointed a civilian prime minister, Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar, to head a caretaker government.
A former premier under Taya, Ould Boubacar became Mauritania's ambassador to France after falling out of grace and is seen as a consensus name who may also help soothe international concerns about the military takeover.
Taya, who had ruled with an authoritarian style since 1984, was overthrown in a bloodless coup by a group of officers on Wednesday while out of the country.
The detainees freed on Sunday were part of a group of some 60 people arrested by security forces since April in a clampdown on Islamist activists and politicians which critics say was an excuse to stifle dissent.
"This is a new era, a page has been turned," said Moctar Ould Mohamed Moussa, one of the released prisoners, as he walked out of the main civilian prison in the capital Nouakchott to be met by cheering relatives.
Hundreds of jubilant people honked their car horns outside the two-storey concrete building.
The United States, France and the United Nations have all condemned the coup. The African Union has suspended Mauritania.
But in Nouakchott and elsewhere in the country, thousands of people have taken to the streets in celebration.
On Sunday, even Taya's own party said it fully backed the program outlined by the military council -- a constitutional referendum within a year followed by parliamentary elections.
DIPLOMATIC SHIFT
Initially an ally of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, Taya had angered many Arabs in his country by moving it closer to Israel -- Mauritania is one of only three Arab League members to have diplomatic ties with the Jewish state -- and Washington.
He also turned Mauritania, which straddles black and Arab Africa, into one of the most repressive countries toward Islamist movements, especially after narrowly surviving a coup attempt in June 2003.
The detained activists had been accused by Taya's government of colluding with the Algerian-based Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), a movement allied to al Qaeda.
But many Mauritanian Arabs say Taya overstated the Islamist threat to justify a crackdown on opponents and curry favor with the United States -- whose military trained his army to fight radical militants thought to be active in the Sahara desert. "The Islamists are the majority in Mauritania. They do not preach violence. The former president rounded them as extremists so as to win support from the West," said Yacoub Ould Moine, a university maths professor who was standing outside the prison.
A source close to the military junta told Reuters half a dozen prisoners would stay in jail after they admitted ties to the GSPC. The cases of other detainees were being reviewed.
Opposition leaders said the new prime minister had once been one of Taya's men, but should be given the benefit of the doubt.
"He is someone from the old regime but he is someone who wants change," Mohamed Ould Maouloud, leader of a moderate opposition party, told Reuters.
"We will judge him by his work," he said.
(additional reporting by Ibrahima Sylla)
===============================================
Maasha Allah this is indeed a good news for all of the Muslim hardliner conservative wondering who is the next pet to be overthrown from the leadership?
I hope they hand the power to the Sheikhs instead the Dabadhilifs...
Bacadu Salaam,
Mauritania junta frees jailed Islamists, names PM By Nick Tattersall
40 minutes ago
NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) - Mauritania's new army rulers ordered the release on Sunday of around 20 Islamist activists who had been jailed by ousted President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya for their alleged links with a group allied to al Qaeda.
.
In a move designed to reassure political parties, the junta also appointed a civilian prime minister, Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar, to head a caretaker government.
A former premier under Taya, Ould Boubacar became Mauritania's ambassador to France after falling out of grace and is seen as a consensus name who may also help soothe international concerns about the military takeover.
Taya, who had ruled with an authoritarian style since 1984, was overthrown in a bloodless coup by a group of officers on Wednesday while out of the country.
The detainees freed on Sunday were part of a group of some 60 people arrested by security forces since April in a clampdown on Islamist activists and politicians which critics say was an excuse to stifle dissent.
"This is a new era, a page has been turned," said Moctar Ould Mohamed Moussa, one of the released prisoners, as he walked out of the main civilian prison in the capital Nouakchott to be met by cheering relatives.
Hundreds of jubilant people honked their car horns outside the two-storey concrete building.
The United States, France and the United Nations have all condemned the coup. The African Union has suspended Mauritania.
But in Nouakchott and elsewhere in the country, thousands of people have taken to the streets in celebration.
On Sunday, even Taya's own party said it fully backed the program outlined by the military council -- a constitutional referendum within a year followed by parliamentary elections.
DIPLOMATIC SHIFT
Initially an ally of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, Taya had angered many Arabs in his country by moving it closer to Israel -- Mauritania is one of only three Arab League members to have diplomatic ties with the Jewish state -- and Washington.
He also turned Mauritania, which straddles black and Arab Africa, into one of the most repressive countries toward Islamist movements, especially after narrowly surviving a coup attempt in June 2003.
The detained activists had been accused by Taya's government of colluding with the Algerian-based Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), a movement allied to al Qaeda.
But many Mauritanian Arabs say Taya overstated the Islamist threat to justify a crackdown on opponents and curry favor with the United States -- whose military trained his army to fight radical militants thought to be active in the Sahara desert. "The Islamists are the majority in Mauritania. They do not preach violence. The former president rounded them as extremists so as to win support from the West," said Yacoub Ould Moine, a university maths professor who was standing outside the prison.
A source close to the military junta told Reuters half a dozen prisoners would stay in jail after they admitted ties to the GSPC. The cases of other detainees were being reviewed.
Opposition leaders said the new prime minister had once been one of Taya's men, but should be given the benefit of the doubt.
"He is someone from the old regime but he is someone who wants change," Mohamed Ould Maouloud, leader of a moderate opposition party, told Reuters.
"We will judge him by his work," he said.
(additional reporting by Ibrahima Sylla)
===============================================
Maasha Allah this is indeed a good news for all of the Muslim hardliner conservative wondering who is the next pet to be overthrown from the leadership?
I hope they hand the power to the Sheikhs instead the Dabadhilifs...
Yes,i am xayawaan and you are xayawaan too.what is the point? I hate these teenage girls Walahi