A Coup in Mauritania

The BBC has a great report on the overthrow of Mauritanian president Maaouiya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya by a group of army officers. While Taya was in Saudi Arabia attending the funeral of King Fahd, a military council claimed power in the west African country and said a military council would be governing the country for at least two years. African and international organizations have condemned the move. Taya is currently in exile in Niger.

Nicholas Gvosdev of the National Interest wrote a guest post on the coup over at The Washington Note; he notes that Taya's government had recognized Israel, and had been cracking down on Islamic militants in recent years. Gvosdev asks "So what will the United States do if the new Committee, in the name of democracy, breaks off diplomatic relations with Israel or begins releasing people that Washington believes are connected to Al-Qaeda?"

I would point out that anything the "Committee" does in the name of democracy is meaningless. While Taya may not have held a claim to a fair democratic mandate, those involved in a coup have even less. I hope that the country will remain stable, and would add that those responsible for the action should provide for a transition to full democracy and fair elections as soon as possible. The key question, of how the US will react to a newly-hostile Mauritania (if that proves to be the case), remains to be answered.