By Prensa Latina,
Nouakchott : The African Union condemned Wednesday the coup made to Mauritanian President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and announced sending a messenger to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in Mauritania.
A communiqué issued in the AU permanent host in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, said that AU condemned the coup and demanded restoration of constitutional legality in that African country.
The AU Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra will go to Nouakchott to evaluate the situation on the country and help to promote a peaceful solution.
UA Commission head Jean Ping is still worried on the evolution of the situation while the Nigerian government expressed its total condemnation to the coup.
Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua said his government would not recognize any government that has not come to the power by conventional means.
At the same time European Union foreign policy head Javier Solana supported the steps by the UA to foster dialogue and the integral reestablishment of institutional legality.
The governments of France and the US and the Islamic Conference Organization also repudiated the coup.
The coup overthrow and put Abdallahi and Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghf under arrest Wednesday.
Witnesses said that the soldiers entered the Presidential Palace, arrested the President, Prime Minister and Interior Minister and took them to an army headquarters.
They also cut communication and stopped officials from getting to their respective offices.
The panorama is still tense, with deploy of soldiers and police officers rejecting protesting diversionary attacks by coup opponents.
Mauritania’s main airport was still closed and the movement of soldiers was still noticeable.