Toppled Mauritanian president in Doha with family
Mauritania-Qatar, Politics, 8/23/2005

Toppled President of Mauritania, Mu'aweya Weld Sayed Ahmadf al-Taye, arrived in Qatar Tuesday coming from Gambia, as his second station after Niger where he found out about the coupe that toppled him during his return back from Saudi Arabia on August 3rd.

Weld al-Taye arrived Doha on board of a plane for the Qatari airways that took him from Banjul, capital of Gambia, together with his wife and four children following a short stop in Cairo.

The former president was taken to one of the luxurious hotels in Doha and his special escort was quoted as saying that his morale is very high. Weld al-Taye was toppled in a peaceful coupe while he was away from the country giving condolences in Riyadh to Saudi officials on the demise of King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz.

Several Arab media said that Gambia asked Weld al-Taye to leave because his stay on its lands is damaging to its relations with Mauritania. However, Gambia's foreign minister denied that.

The coupe was welcomed by the Mauritanian opposition but deplored worldwide, and shortly after, suddenly started to become less critical starting from the African Union to France and Washington which showed readiness to deal with the military council which runs the affairs of the country should it abide by its obligations to organize free and transparent elections.

Weld al-Taye described the coupe as "foolish and a crime." It called on the army to rebel against the organizers of the coupe and to restore back the "constitutional regime," but it seemed that his call went unheeded.

Previous Stories:
  Al-Jazeera: Toppled Mauritanian president in Qatar   (8/22/2005)
  Ex-Mauritanian president faces human rights charges; may go to Qatar   (8/17/2005)
  Qatar, Mauritania sign several important agreements   (12/26/2003)

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