Mauritania Leader Says Coup Attempt Crushed

Reuters
Monday, June 9, 2003; 1:11 PM

By Ahmed Salem

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (Reuters) - Mauritanian
President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya -- who has
locked up Islamists and courted Israel and the West --
said Monday that loyalist troops had defeated a coup
attempt against him.

Taya, in his first radio broadcast to the northwest
African country since fighting began early Sunday,
proclaimed victory for loyalist forces who laid down a
barrage of shellfire before sunrise to reclaim the
capital from the renegades.

Officials said Sala Ould Henena, a former army officer
opposed to Taya's ties with Israel, had been behind
the attempt to seize power. They could not confirm
reports on CNN television that the coup leader was
dead.

The rebels launched their attempt to oust Taya by
storming the presidential palace Sunday, the most
serious challenge to his rule since his own coup in
1984.

"The patriotic forces beat this plot that aimed to end
the process of development and emancipation," said
Taya. "It took time because it was necessary to
destroy tank after tank. As I speak, the operation is
complete."

It was not immediately clear where Taya was
broadcasting from.

The loyalist forces, backed by reinforcements from the
desert interior, used heavy weapons in their pre-dawn
counter-attack and cleared the rebels from the
president's palace and the center of Nouakchott.

Sporadic bursts of gunfire continued in parts of the
city, but thousands of Taya's supporters took to the
city center chanting "victory, victory," honking car
horns and thumping drums in celebration.

Scores of people have been wounded in fighting, but
the death toll is unclear.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned the coup
attempt and called for "an immediate end to the
violence and a peaceful approach to resolving any
differences." Chief U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said
Annan "strongly condemns ongoing armed attempts to
overthrow the constitutional government ... He is
deeply concerned over reports of widespread
violence..."

GRIPPED BY UNEASE

Split between black Africans and light-skinned Arabs,
the almost exclusively Muslim country had been gripped
before the coup by unease over the arrest of dozens of
Taya's Islamist opponents.

Thirty-two Islamic leaders were charged this month
with threatening national security. Police sources
said they were suspected of links to a foreign network
of Islamic extremists.

Politicians linked to former Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein have also been rounded up since he was ousted
by the U.S.-led invasion.

Taya's longstanding ties with Israel have caused
widespread displeasure in Mauritania, which in 1999
became only the third Arab League state to establish
full diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.

Israel has given Mauritania help with agriculture and
is also building a new hospital. Diplomats say the
Israelis also provide discreet assistance with
security.

Taya has also moved to befriend the United States, a
change of course since he backed Saddam in the first
Gulf War.

Taya, a former army colonel, won elections in 1992 and
1997 and has been expected to stand again later this
year. Human rights groups often complain the
government's methods are heavy-handed.

The country of fewer than three million people
supports itself through iron ore mining and fishing,
but oil has recently been found offshore