Saleh Ould Hanenna
(born September 20, 1965) is a former
Mauritanian
soldier
and
political figure
.
[1]
Saleh Ould Hanenna served in the
Mauritanian Army
and rose to the rank of
Major
before being officially dismissed in 2000.
In June 2003, he led an
attempted coup
, aiming to overthrow
President
Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
. He commanded a rebel section of the Army during two days of heavy fighting in
Nouakchott
which caused the death of dozens of people.
[2]
[3]
With the complete failure of the coup, Ould Hanenna initially escaped capture, and formed an opposition group called the "Knights of Change" with former officer
Mohamed Ould Cheikhna
, but he was captured and arrested on October 9, 2004.
[4]
[5]
The
Government of Mauritania
accused Saleh Ould Hanenna of attempting to organize coups on two further occasions, in August and September 2004,
[6]
[7]
with the alleged backing of
Libya
and
Burkina Faso
.
[4]
A
death sentence
was initially recommended at his subsequent trial, but he was instead given
life imprisonment
at the conclusion of the trial on February 3, 2005.
[8]
[9]
[10]
In August 2005, Colonel
Ely Ould Mohamed Vall
led a
successful coup
in the country that ousted
President
Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
.
[11]
The
Military Council for Justice and Democracy
(CMJD) which subsequently took charge of the government released Ould Hanenna in an
amnesty
in early September.
[12]
On January 9, 2007, Ould Hanenna, the president of the
Mauritanian Union for Change
(HATEM), was unanimously chosen by that party's executive committee as its candidate in the
March 2007 presidential election
.
[13]
He took sixth position in the poll, with 7.65% of the votes cast,
[14]
and subsequently backed
Ahmed Ould Daddah
for the second round.
[15]
[16]
Ould Hanenna served as President of the
Coordination of Democratic Opposition
, a political coalition made up of parties opposed to general
Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz
led government in
Mauritania
.
[17]