Military overthrow of President Taya
A military
coup
took place in
Mauritania
on 3 August 2005. President
Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
was ousted by the
Armed Forces of Mauritania
and replaced by the
Military Council for Justice and Democracy
(CMJD), headed by
Ely Ould Mohamed Vall
, while Taya was in
Saudi Arabia
attending the funeral of King
Fahd of Saudi Arabia
. A
constitutional referendum
,
parliamentary
and
presidential
elections were scheduled and the coup leaders vowed not to contest any of the elections. The military government ended with the presidential election on 11 March 2007 as promised.
Background
[
edit
]
Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
had reigned over
Mauritania
since he had taken power from
Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla
in a bloodless
coup d'etat
in
December 1984
. Mauritania had also seen coup attempts in
June 2003
and August 2004. The 2003 attempt had been led by
Saleh Ould Hanenna
, and the August 2004 attempt was allegedly led by army officers hailing from Hanenna's ethnic group.
[1]
Motives for the coup included Taya's
alignment with America
and being one of only three countries in the
Arab world
to start formal
diplomatic ties with Israel
. The coup was also motivated by opposition to Taya's suppression of some opposition parties and his occasional military purges.
[2]
Coup details
[
edit
]
While Taya was attending the funeral of King
Fahd of Saudi Arabia
on 3 August 2005, members of the Presidential Guard surrounded the presidential palace and other important ministries. Shots were heard throughout the capital, clearing the streets of
Nouakchott
. The coup leaders also took control of state run radio and TV stations.
[3]
In an official message on Mauritanian television, the coup leaders declared, "The armed forces and security forces have unanimously decided to put a definitive end to the totalitarian acts in the past few years of the defunct regime under which our people have suffered greatly in the last few years."
[2]
International reaction
[
edit
]
Domestically, the coup had support from the population, with some in the capital honking their car horns in support. The
African Union
expressed concern and condemned all seizures of power.
[4]
The
Secretary-General
of the
UN
,
Kofi Annan
, "was deeply troubled", stating that he wanted the dispute to be resolved peacefully. The then
President
of
Nigeria
,
Olusegun Obasanjo
, denounced the coup, stating "the days of tolerating military governance in our sub-region or anywhere [are] long gone".
[4]
Aftermath
[
edit
]
Taya was on the plane back to Mauritania when the coup happened, forcing him to land in
Niger
. He eventually made his way to
Qatar
,
[5]
and now works as a teacher at a Qatar military academy.
[6]
After the coup, the African Union demanded a return to "constitutional order" in Mauritania, and suspended Mauritania's membership in the African Union.
[7]
The Mauritanian military government ended after a fair presidential election was held in 2007, in which
Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi
was elected. Mauritania's membership in the African Union was returned following the 2007 elections.
[8]
However, after it was found out that Abdallahi had opened channels of communications with Islamic hardliners thought to be associated with
Al-Qaeda
, and had used public funds to build a
mosque
in the
palace
, he was overthrown by a
coup in 2008
led by members of the 2005 coup,
[9]
resulting in Mauritania being once again suspended from the African Union.
[8]
References
[
edit
]
|
---|
1960s
| |
---|
1970s
| |
---|
1980s
| |
---|
1990s
| |
---|
2000s
| |
---|
2010s
| |
---|
2020s
| |
---|
- c
: successful coup
- ‡
self-coup
- no sign for
attempted coup
|