Wild Taye' nominates himself for a third term of office

Mauritania's President Mu'aweya Wild Taye' has announced his nomination for a third term of office in the presidential elections which are due on November 17th.

In a statement to that effect, Wild Taye' said he had nominated himself due to the wishes of the increasing number of Mauritanian citizens.

This, however, comes in confirmation of what was announced earlier the Democratic, republican and socialist ruling party on nominating Wild Taye' for president.

Wuld Taye' assumed authority in Mauritania following a military coupe in December 1984. He was re-elected on top of the Mauritania presidency during multilateral elections in 1992. In the third term, he was re-elected for six years in December 1997. But the opposition boycotted these elections.

On June 8, this year, Wild Taye' was exposed to a failed coupe that ended with the defeat of the initiators of the coupe and two days of fighting resulted in killing 15 persons and wounding 68, according to an official statistics.

The coupe came following a campaign of arrest that targeted scores of Islamists in a country where all population embrace Islam. In 1999, Mauritania became the third Arab state to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.