By Prensa Latina,
Nouakchott : General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, chief of the Mauritanian facto government, received Monday in this capital special envoys from several international organizations, although he refused to return to the previous order.
Abdel Aziz, self-proclaimed president of the State’s Top Council that overthrew President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, defended the military coup as an action to “save the country that was about to collapse into the abyss.”
In statements to Al Jazzera TV, he slammed the toppled statesman for “having damaged democracy due to several political, economic and social errors.”
He said Abdallahi was a hostage from sectors against national interests, which, he said, provoked that chaos and corruption that proliferated in the country.
In other statements to a radio station, Abdel Aziz called for all Mauritanians to solve problems gripping the nation and “implacably fight corruption,” leaving aside political differences.
The military chief met separately this weekend at the Nouakchott Presidential Palace with special envoys Ahmed Ben Hilli, from the Arab League (AL), Said Djinnit (UN), and Ramadane Lamamra (AU).
AL general assistant secretary Ben Hilli, in charge of political affairs, brought a message by the organization’s chief Amr Moussa, in which he requested coup leaders to respect this country’s democratic achievements.
According to the Arab diplomat, Abdel Aziz asserted that the Mauritanian democratic process won’t go back, because the Parliament, municipal councils and parties will continue labors, and the transition period won’t take long.