Coup in Mauritania

Reuters news agency has reported that soldiers in Mauritania have instigated a coup d'état. President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdellahi (who had been in power since 19 April 2007) and Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef (who had been in power since 6 May 2008) are being held in custody. President Abdellahi came into power in 2007 replacing a military junta which had removed the previous president, Ely Ould Mohammed Vall, in a bloodless coup in 2005.

It is believed that the coup is led by General Ould Abdelaziz, who had been head of the Presidential Security Battalion until he was sacked last Wednesday by President Abdellahi. Reuters was apparently informed by the president's daughter, Amal Mint Cheikh Abdallahi, that the presidential palace was seized at 0920 local time.