News, December 2003, www.aljazeerah.info
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Former Mauritanian president warns of civil war in plea at coup trial
Jordan Times, Monday, December 29, 2003
NOUAKCHOTT (AFP) — Former Mauritanian President Mohammad Khouna Ould Haidallah warned of civil war in Mauritania in a final plea proclaiming his innocence as his trial for allegedly plotting a coup wound up. A verdict against Ould Haidallah, who has been on trial since Dec. 1, was expected later Sunday. "As God is my witness, I declare that I did not conspire with anyone," said Ould Haidallah, who is charged along with 14 alleged conspirators of plotting to overthrow the government.
Ould Haidallah, a former army colonel who finished a distant second to President Maaouiya Ould Taya in a presidential election last month, was arrested on the eve of the Nov. 7 election.
He was then released, only to be rearrested immediately after the ballot. Ould Haidallah took nearly 19 per cent of the vote to 66 per cent for Ould Taya, returning the incumbent to power for a third six-year term amid opposition charges of massive fraud.
Ould Haidallah was president of Mauritania, a mainly Muslim and largely desert country on Africa's west coast in between Morocco and Senegal, from 1981 to 1984, when he was toppled in a coup led by former comrade-in-arms, Ould Taya.
The 63-year-old was accused by prosecutors of using the campaign to mask a coup plot. The state prosecutor has demanded that all 15 defendants including the former head of state be sentenced to forced labour if convicted. The 15 suspects have all entered pleas of not guilty.
In his final appeal, Ould Haidallah reiterated his innocence and also offered "advice" to Ould Taya, telling him that "in the name of our personal relationship and of our friendship" to no longer listen to his entourage "which is telling lies."
Mauritania "is in a serious state that could degenerate into civil war if nothing is done to find a solution," said Ould Haidallah, adding that "this is meant as advice and not a threat." The verdict was expected late Sunday. Ould Haidallah, and his then comrade-in-arms — Ould Taya — were part of a junta that overthrew Mauritania's first president, Moktar Ould Daddah, in 1978.
The retired lieutenant colonel became head of state in 1980, only to be overthrown in a palace coup four years later by Ould Taya.
After spending four years in jail, Ould Haidallah remained out of the limelight, but he told AFP during the election campaign that he felt compelled to run for president because the country was threatened by instability in the wake of a violent coup attempt in June.
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python (Alquds, 1/25/03. |
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