Mauritanian military stages coup - 6 Aug 08

A military coup in Mauritania brings opposition supporters out in celebration, and puts the country's democratically elected leaders in jail.

Mauritania, in the north-west of Africa, has been gripped by political uncertainty since its government faced a no-confidence vote last month.

The president and other key leaders are being held by the army. The head of Mauritania's presidential guard has declared himself in charge.

Al Jazeera's Dorsa Jabbari reports.

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[pyromania152]

*sigh* The people can be lead to cheer on the most destructive things...

[ToxicGuerrilla]

I think this will not be the last we hear of this. Not in a good way..

[adrarwelcomesyou]

hellomauritania.blogspot.com

[syllaaamy]

AWEIZIZ GO TO DEVIL THE TRAITRE

[TheCrazyFinn]

According to intelligence sources, the Hallburton subsidiary of Kellogg, Brown & Root, a top covert operations contractor for the Pentagon, has established a secret base in southern Libya under the guise of a water pipeline construction project, to train Mauritanian, Western Saharan, and Tuareg cadres.

[TheCrazyFinn]

The U.S. has set up secret camps in Mali (near Gao, Bamako, and Timbuktu) and Senegal (near Dakar) to train rebel groups that would be poised to take over any Sahelian country where Islamists gain or threaten to gain power.

[TheCrazyFinn]

Intelligence sources have also reported that "retired" U.S. military officers with virtually unlimited budgets have recruited Mauritanian, Ivorian, Malian, and other West African college students in the United States and groomed them as future civilian leaders who would pledge allegiance to the United States. Most of the targeted students come from elite families and certain tribes (for example, the Fulani) in the West African nations.

[TheCrazyFinn]

The U.S. embassy in Nouakchott was constructed by a private contractor complete with underground tunnels and escape routes to facilitate the extraction of Mauritanian leaders in the event of coups or failed coups. In August and September 2004, there were two unsuccessful U.S.-backed coup attempts against Taya. Unmarked helicopters used by the coup plotters in 2004 were supplied by U.S. forces.

[TheCrazyFinn]

The rebellious Mauritanian military officers formed the Military Council for Justice and Democracy and plan to rule the country for two years. They named U.S.-trained Colonel Ely Ould Mohammad Vall as chairman. Next year, U.S. oil companies will begin to pump oil from rigs off the Mauritanian and Western Saharan coasts.

[TheCrazyFinn]

Although the State Department condemned the coup against Taya, who is now in exile in Niger (which is also part of the TSCTI), it has little control over the off-the-books operations of the Pentagon's hybrid force of U.S. special operations forces, foreign mercenaries, and ex-CIA, Green Beret, and Delta Force members. Taya, like Sudanese Vice President John Garang who died in a helicopter "accident" days before Taya's ouster, may have become another "throw away" African leader.

[TheCrazyFinn]

lookingglassnews(dot)org/print­erfriendly(dot)php?storyid=182­1

[TheCrazyFinn]

Other Mauritanian coup leaders were trained at U.S. European Command (EUCOM) facilities in Stuttgart, Germany. U.S. troops and their Mauritanian counterparts used the strategic Atar airport, in Mouakchott (not to be confused with the capital Nouakchott), as a staging post for joint operations.