Mauritania looks anxiously over its shoulder

Al Qaeda have claimed responsibility for an attempted overnight attack near n the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott. Army forces shot at a car containing 1.3 tonnes of explosives killing all three occupants, and injuring eight soldiers in the process. Security forces tracked the vehicle from the border with Mali after a tip-off and made the intercept 12km south of the capital, shelling the car causing a massive explosion.

In a a phone call to an Islamic website, North African Al Qaeda said they were targeting President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. Mauritania’s Defense Minister Hamadi Ould Hamadi said the dead men were plotting an attack on military barracks as well as the French embassy. Security forces had earlier stopped a second car arresting an al-Qaida militant who confessed the plot including the target and the direction of travel.

The group known as Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Mauritania. These include the 2009 killing of 39-year-old American Christopher Ervin Leggett and the 2007 shooting of four French tourists picnicking on the side of a rural road. As a result President Aziz has created specialised army units to deal with AQIM which launched a cross-border raid into northern Mali to destroy an AQIM base last year.

But while Aziz’s vigorous pursuit of Islamists has led to international support, the endorsement is not so ringing at home. Yacoub Ould Dahoud was certainly not a fan. The 41-year-old businessman had been following events in Tunisia closely and decided to carry out his own protest in the manner of Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi. On 17 January Dahoud set himself alight in front of the presidential palace in Nouakchott. Dahoud’s Facebook message before he set himself on fire read “Enough corruption! Enough injustice in Mauritania! For fifty years we have suffered from corruption and injustice.”

Dahoud wanted an end to army power and the end of duties and taxes on rice, wheat, cooking oil, sugar and dairy products. His message to Aziz was “if you do not accept these demands, you will face the wrath of the People who will come out just like they came out against Ben Ali.” Dahoud said he wanted “our children to live in a country with social justice, freedom and democracy.” After setting himself alight, his family sent him to Morocco for treatment but he died six days later of his wounds. His death fuelled anger in a country that overcame its ancient aversion towards suicide. Mauritania’s Taqadoumy news website showed a growing outrage over a smear campaign launched by the president. Aziz described Dahoud’s action as “desperate because of [General Aziz's] war on corruption as [Dahoud] hails from a wealthy family.”

Aziz has plenty of his own problems to worry about. Prices have soared in recent times, particularly sugar, oil and milk powder. His Government has been casting an anxious glance over its shoulder at Algeria where similar price rises of basic commodities left five people dead and 800 wounded in riots in early January. Through a statement issued by Mauritanian News Agency, Aziz asked his Government to consider urgent action to resolve the problem “Given the evolution of prices of certain foodstuffs, the President instructed the Government to take urgent measures likely to help keep prices down to levels more accessible to people throughout the territory,” the statement read.

Aziz is an ex-general who led coups in 2005 and 2008 but who won power in his own right in a 2009 presidential election, which was widely deemed fair. But he remains vulnerable with many in Mauritania seeing him still as a military strongman not as an elected representative. The recent people power riots across the Maghreb has also made the administration nervous and given strength to claims by opposition his regime is illegitimate.

A moderate Islamist opposition party the National Rally for Reform and Development (RNRD-Tawassoul) has publicly expressed support for the Egyptians protesters. Tawassoul hailed "the revolt of Egyptian youths committed to freedom in a bid to end the repression and hegemony of the Mubarak regime." The party said the protests were "a decisive moment, which calls for a much greater solidarity among all the forces of change, to deal with a dictatorship and defeat all the manoeuvres likely to slow the momentum of a revolution whose claims to freedom and reform meet people's aspirations.”

While ostensibly speaking about Egypt, this was really code for the situation at home in Mauritania. Poverty is widespread, 45 percent of adults are illiterate and a similar percentage live on less than $2 a day. Lying in the drought-prone Sahel, the long-term prognosis for the country is not good even if Aziz is forced out. The country owes $1.2 billion in debt, the vast majority to oil-rich Kuwait. Mauritania is no different in many respects to other countries in northern Africa, a fact not lost on Aziz as he ponders the wrath of people power. The fact the protesters and Al Qaeda are misdirecting their anger is little comfort in a world given to easy slogans for difficult problems.

Problems of Geography and Branding: Dakar in South America

The so-called Dakar Rally got off to a “symbolic start” in Buenos Aires today and for the second year in a row the event has now switched to Argentina and Chile. Quite how symbolic that was, seems to have been lost on most western media. The official symbol of the rally remains a (faceless) person in North African dress but the challenges now for the riders is the Andes not the Sahara. Given the widespread interest and money generated from the South American venue and the continued security fears of the original route, it is unlikely the rally will ever return to Africa. This is a mixed blessing. The event was often seen as a triumph of colonialism that cared little for the impact on the lands it travelled through or the faceless people. But it also was a strong boost to the economies of the likes of Mauritania, Mali and Senegal bringing in badly needed foreign revenue. And no one involved with the race sees an issue with stealing an African name for a South American context.

The idea for a race from Europe to Africa began in 1977 when French rider Thierry Sabine got lost on his motorcycle in the Libyan desert during the Abidjan-Nice rally. After being rescued from the sands he came up with the idea for a rally to cross the Sahara. The first Paris-Dakar rally started on 26 December 1978 with 175 competitors travelling across the Mediterranean and down through Algeria, Niger, Mali, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and ending in Senegal’s capital Dakar. The danger and exotic nature of the route meant it captured the public imagination and quickly became a household name through most of Europe.

Over the years the route varied and the number of competitors doubled and then trebled. The race went through Gaddafy’s Libya in 1989. In 1992 it went all the way to Cape Town. But that year’s race route through wartorn Chad reminded organisers that politics was never far away. It returned to Dakar in 1993 but the race ended its association with Paris in 1995 when it started from Spain. In 2000 competitors started in Dakar and drove to Egypt but terrorist threats forced them to fly over Algeria. The 2006 death of two young spectators in Guinea and Senegal drew criticism across Africa for the lack of sensitivity shown by the organisers.

In 2007 two planned stages between Nema and Timbuktu were cancelled because Mali authorities could not guarantee the safety of competitors. However, the transformation of the Dakar rally from a destination to a brand began in earnest a year later when the entire event was cancelled a day before it was due to start. On Christmas Eve 2007, a French family of five were having a picnic by the side of a road in the Southern Mauretania town of Aleg when they were attacked by gunmen. After robbing the family, the gunmen opened fire killing four and wounding the other before fleeing into neighbouring Senegal. The attacks were a rare event in Mauritania and government blamed it on a terrorist sleeper cell from Algerian Al Qaeda.

When the organisers of the rally sent team to examine conditions on the ground in Mauritania, they found out that three soldiers had been killed in an ambush in the north of the country on the day they arrived. Nevertheless the French director of the rally Étienne Lavigne said the deaths would not affect the running of the race. Lavigne decided to scrap the two Mali legs again but both he and Mauritanian Interior Minister Yall Zakaria said all other necessary precautions had been taken and security was on track including a 3,000 man security force. But on 29 December Al Qaeda used a website to criticise Mauritania's government for "providing suitable environments to the infidels for the rally." While it did not directly call for attacks on the race or its participants, it was enough to spook Lavigne. He called off the race a day before it was due to start on 5 January 2008.

The Mauritanian president complained that the cancellation was an overreaction. But white western lives always take priority over black African ones and there was no real criticism of the cancellation in western media other than to over-dramatically refer to it as a “death sentence” for the event. But what the media were not taking into account was that the Dakar was now a lucrative brand that could easily be de-coupled from its African location. Other countries in Europe and South America queued up to offer their services to host the event and Argentina and Chile won the rights to host it in 2009. There was little doubt that they would win it again this year. Dominique Serieys, head of Mitsubishi Motorsport saw it purely in sporting terms. "It was necessary to take a break in Africa given the geopolitical context there,” he said. “The fact the resumption is on a new continent is good news."

Serieys is right from a motoring perspective and a race of cars, trucks, motorbikes and quads across the rugged terrain of the Andes will be enjoyable for fans. It may even be more difficult than the Sahara in parts. But this hardly makes it a “Dakar Rally”. The race was born of Sabine’s vision of a trek across the sands of the Sahara and while it did not always (or even often) have the interests of Africans in mind, at least it was a rare opportunity for Africa to star on the world stage. The ease of which the race left Africa and the theft of its name are a shameful reminder of the cravenness of western interests ahead of the Third World.

Mauritania military anoints new leader

A week after a bloodless coup that overthrew Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi’s civilian administration, Mauritania’s military has appointed a new Prime Minister to lead a transitional government. He is Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf, Mauritania's former ambassador to the EU. Coup leader General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz made the announcement in a bid to head off international condemnation of his actions. He was emboldened this week by the support of a majority of Mauritanian politicians, including the Opposition, who declared their support for the coup which they said was carried out "in the interest of the Mauritanian people".

Laghdaf is a lackey of Abdel Aziz, and his appointment was a transparent attempt to restore international relations with the aid of Laghdaf’s diplomatic service in the EU. The London-based The Economist said that while the rest of Africa seems to be slowly ridding itself of its penchant for coups, Mauritania seems to be perfecting its ability to stage them. The last two successful coups on the continent have now both taken place in Mauritania.

Abdallahi was arrested by his presidential guard and relieved of his duties on 6 August. The coup took place without a single gunshot and the news was spread mostly by the president's distraught daughter, who telephoned journalists as coup leaders occupied his house and arrested him. In time honoured fashion, state television and radio went off the air but not before declaring Abdallahi the "former" president. They also announced the reinstatement of senior army officers whose sacking had been announced earlier that morning.

Coup leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is the head of the presidential guard and one of the officers Abdallahi had tried to fire. The coup came as Mauritania launched from one crisis to another. In the last three months, one government had been sacked and another forced to resign. Complaints have ranged from rising food prices to the lack of transparency over the Abdallahi’s wife’s finances. In the wake of the coup, the army instigated a mass resignation of the president's supporters in parliament.

The wheels have come full circle for Abdel Aziz who was involved in the previous coup in 2005. Just as in last week’s affair, there was international disapproval about the army's removal of President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, who had ruled brutally for two decades. However, optimism returned after the army quickly organised 2006 elections that brought Abdallahi to power. He was Mauritania’s first democratically elected president since independence in 1960.

But the optimism of the early days faded. Al-Qaeda has claimed several attacks in Mauritania over the past year including an attack that killed several French tourists. That attack plus threats against the race caused the cancellation of the Paris-Dakar rally. Eight of the events 15 stages were due to take place in Mauritania.

But while the 2005 coup received mild international reaction, this one has been widely condemned. The US demanded the immediate restoration of the president, while the AU suspended Mauritanian membership. Regional powerhouse Nigeria has refused to recognise the new regime while the EU threatens to suspend aid. The problem is the coup is generally supported within Mauritania. The post 2005 regime did not deliver on their promises and became deeply unpopular. According to one Portuguese expat, life goes on as normal in the capital Nouakchott. “I don't feel stressed and continue to go on as if nothing happened,” said Isabel Fiadeiro. “The only thing that would make you realise something happened yesterday, is the beeping of horns in the street.”

Mauritania gets a taste of democracy

Over two decades of authoritarian rule ended overnight in Mauritania. The Saharan nation saw lengthy queues at polling stations for the first election since the overthrow of Maaouya Ould Taya. Taya was president of Mauritania from 1984 until overthrown 21 years later. A military junta has ruled since then and Mauritanian citizens are now finally enjoying the chance to choose their own government. The vote ended on Sunday with full results available on Tuesday. Military junta leader Colonel Ely Ould Mohammad Vall told Al Jazeera that the upcoming vote represented a chance to change the country's political reality and should not be wasted. The ruling junta promised transparent elections after toppling long-term President Taya in a bloodless coup in August 2005 and are finally delivering.

Democracy is still slowly coming to this parched Islamic country. About a million people are eligible to vote out of a total population of over three million. Those who have the vote flooded the two thousand polling booths. With just 20 minutes to go before voting was due to end, long queues were still forming outside polling stations in the capital Nouakchott. They are voting for a 95 member parliament and 216 councils.

The election is being closely watched by at least 500 observers from the EU, AU, Arab League and the OIF (Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie) as well as a number of NGOs. So far they have found no irregularities. French Green Party MP Marianne Isler Beguin said the process has been satisfactory apart from some heavy-duty campaigning in front of polling booths. But it wasn’t all hard sell; due to Mauritania’s high illiteracy rate helpers were there to guide those unfamiliar with voting procedure.

Although there were no exit polls, a 14-party opposition alliance is expected to do well. More than 25 political parties representing a wide spectrum of views as well as numerous independent candidates were contesting the elections. Islamist parties although popular on the ground, are banned from taking part and the vote is likely to be split on ethnic grounds between African and Arab candidates.

Mauritanian society has a history of being mostly nomadic with original negroid peoples being overrun by Berbers who themselves were subdued by Arab invaders. Mauritania’s misfortune was to have a large Atlantic coastline which attracted the European powers. Until the beginning of the 18th century, Brandenburgers, Dutchmen, French and the British competed over coastal trade, the most important trade product being gum rubber. Then the competition withered. The Brandenburgers sold their assets to the Dutch. Later the Dutch themselves had enough. Finally the British signed an agreement in 1857 to leave the coast to France. By 1903, France was in a position to claim all of Mauritania. France ruled the large but sparse nation mostly through intermediaries until after World War II. In 1957 they created a new capital Nouakchott and the country celebrated independence in 1960. Over the next forty years, Nouakchott was transformed from a quiet fishing port of 15,000 to the largest city in the Sahara Desert with a population of 881,000.

The newly elected leader Makthar Ould Daddah quickly proclaimed a one-party state. The 1970s was dominated by drought and war. The Sahel Drought devastated the country’s livestock and the country was plunged into further crisis when Spain withdrew from Western Sahara. Mauritania and Morocco gobbled up the old country but were fiercely resisted by the Polisario liberation front aided by Algeria. Polisario retaliated by bombing Nouakchott. Daddah was ousted in 1978 and Mauritania withdrew from Western Sahara a year later recognising the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) as the legitimate government. Further coups brought Maaouiya Ould Taya to power in 1984. He claimed to introduce multi-party democracy but was comfortably re-elected in 1993 and 1997. He held another election in 2001 but arrested the opposition leader a day before the election. As well as arrests, press censorship and cronyism was rife under Taya’s watch. Ironically it was his decision to recognise the state of Israel that was the final straw. A Military Council for Justice and Democracy led by Col. Ely Ould Mohamed Vall finally deposed the long-time leader in 2005.

But while the African Union condemned the coup, the people celebrated on the streets. Those same people will be busy voting for a while yet. There will be a second round of voting in two weeks, then a vote for the senate will take place in January, and the democratisation process will be wrapped up by presidential elections in March 2007. The parliament and municipal councils will have at least 20 per cent of female members. Political parties had to give women prominent places on their lists or risk not being able to participate in the elections. The 20 per cent quota was 'a rare initiative in an Arab-Muslim country,' female lawyer Jemina Mint Ichidou said. Mauritania’s hope for the future lies in its oil reserves.

Mauritania's economic future is tied in with oil. It is one of Africa's upcoming producers and an Australian-led consortium started extracting this year. Woodside Petroleum leads the offshore drilling project investing US$ 600 million to deliver 150,000 barrels a day by 2008 in a country whose reserves are estimated at 600 million barrels.