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Ear to the Ground

Bloodless Coup Leaders Arrest Mauritania’s President

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Posted on Aug 6, 2008
Mauritana Military and Police
javno.com

Mauritania military and police participated in a coup that installed a four-member “National Council.”

The government of President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdellah came to an end Wednesday in the West African state of Mauritania, as military officers arrested both Abdellah and the prime minister in a coup against a government denounced for its “corruption and ineptitude in handling rising food prices and oil revenues.” Sound familiar at all?


International Herald Tribune:

A group of senior military officers in Mauritania staged a bloodless coup Wednesday against the country’s first freely elected government in more than 20 years, arresting the country’s president and prime minister in the process.

Coups have punctuated the tumultuous history of Mauritania, an important ally of the West in the fight against terrorism. Since it won its independence from France in 1960, there have been about a dozen attempts to overthrow governments, many of them successful.

The 95-member National Assembly has been increasingly critical, accusing the government of corruption and ineptitude in handling rising food prices and oil revenues. The four military officers, who call themselves the National Council, appointed as their leader General Muhammad Ould Abdelaziz, formerly the head of the elite presidential guard.

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ApprxAm's avatar

By ApprxAm, August 7, 2008 at 2:53 pm Link to this comment

It think Blackspeare is right about the pay-off to military leaders. Money makes for a quiet institution.

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By mrmb, August 7, 2008 at 10:22 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Lets see, my first instinct tells me the old colonial masters are at it again. Hope I am wrong but doubt it very much. Time will tell.

Our French brothers were just accused by Rwanda for genocide.

France accused over Rwanda genocide.

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL56865852 0080805?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Now thats news. A member of the international community, a civilized country, an advocate of human rights and democracy. Need i say any more?

I guess the Rwandan officials should not be surprised if they start getting assassinated one by one, or better yet a UN security council resolution will be orchestrated against them and then Rwanda will be invaded so we can actually prosecute the real culprits.

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By 123456, August 7, 2008 at 9:57 am Link to this comment

I think it’s obvious who’s behind this coup.

Everything I heard about the ousted President Abdallahi was generally positive.

But then Mauretania has oil.

And then there is this:
http://mathaba.net/news/?x=584436


They just won’t leave anyone alone.

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By Jim Yell, August 7, 2008 at 5:28 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

The military has a very bad record as custodian of secular or any other type government. They have the guns so why listen to anyone else?

For wishful thinkers let me point out that the military power structure is strongly interlinked with the Military Industrial Complex which has brought us the ignorance and arrogance and goonish behavior of the last mostly 8 years. They are unlikely to be our saviours.

If we can’t correct at the ballot box than we are lost. There is no secret and magical solution. The only remedy is not to tolerate public officials who break the law and lie about it.

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By Fadel Abdallah, August 6, 2008 at 9:43 pm Link to this comment

Though the prospect of a military coup does not look the best solution to unseat a corrupt government, I still believe that it’s better than sitting helplessly and doing nothing!

Since America under the current leadership has been brought down, in many respects, to the levels of third world countries, it behooves its citizens, or part of them, to try the methods of third world countries to deal with its current corrupt criminal government!

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PatrickHenry's avatar

By PatrickHenry, August 6, 2008 at 5:50 pm Link to this comment

I would support U.S. Marshals grabbing Rove, Cheney and Bush, just need a charge filed by congress or the Supreme court.

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By yellowbird2525, August 6, 2008 at 2:51 pm Link to this comment

mmmmmm, looks good to me! take a look at http://www.pbs.com & go to Bill Moyers Journal & Capital Crimes to get a clear picture of exactly how this Gov in the USA known to be the most corrupt in the world works; then KNOW that Woodrow Wilson Pres during WW1 lamented the fact that our country was no longer a home of the FREE nor even of the majority vote: rather under the dictates & rules of a few dominant men; a total one journalist wrote of 574 I believe it was; KNOW that both parties are basically the same as repeated over & over again even by Ron Paul; they try to “present” choices to the people; and “claim” democracy means “voting” while bringing in millions of illegals & giving them drivers licenses by Oregon for 8 years (illegally of course) & giving them money, brand new cars, trucks, no interest loans, pay back as can under “heading” of refugees with benefits; lots of $ at both St & Fed levels people irregardless of what is said & shown; while leaving the “vets” without medical treatment, without $ for disability pay, etc all the while claiming “broke” while in reality it is like a “bad abusive husband” situation hiding $; getting away with it for years they go now to the heads of countries giving them large sums of $ to go along with “their” way since have gotten away with it in USA for so long; in the meantime Americans are disappearing in every state at an exceedingly alarming amount during so called “housing” crisis which is far worse than is described on TV; at least, the number of empty homes with everything in them left behind, including clothes, family Bibles, pictures, etc; while SAME EXACT PICTURE keeps being “shown” as Americans supposedly stripping homes of everything & demolishing them due to “foreclosures”; THINK: THIS was STOPPED by LAWS after great depression; so was the “run” on the banks; all safe guarded folks; WHERE ARE THE MISSING AMERICANS? the Pentagon is behind most of what is going on, not just the CIA or who is in the White House folks; Pendragus is TOLD what to say on TV; you can TELL IT; lies, lies, & more lies; Pentagon has close ties with Corp’s running the media in this country; how convenient that 50% of them were gone & the other half of them out doing a “drill” in case the Pentagon got hit by an airplane during 9/11 wasn’t it?

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By samosamo, August 6, 2008 at 2:44 pm Link to this comment

al marshall,
If our military stages a coup, it will be expressly to take charge and institute a rule of military dictatorship.
We the people would have to march enmasse into washington and take over the congress and the white house to take our country back. But that would interfere with too many people’s favorite tv shows so don’t expect that to happen anytime soon.

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By Al Marshall, August 6, 2008 at 2:17 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

So, when will the chicken-livered US military arrest Bush and Cheney?

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Blackspeare's avatar

By Blackspeare, August 6, 2008 at 1:49 pm Link to this comment

Umm——looks like President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdellah wasn’t sharing the spoils with the military——that’ll teach him.

At least in the USA we pay-off the military heads with lucrative jobs afterwards so that the appearance of collusion is a little less obvious.

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