Mauritania political exiles set to return
Around 30 Mauritanian opposition members will return on Sunday to their country on board of a plane that will take off from Mali’s capital Bamako, Aljazeera’s correspondent in Morocco reports.
The step paves the way for more than 300 Mauritanian military and civil opposition members to return to Mauritania as part of the country’s bid to achieve national reconciliation, a Mauritanian source told the correspondent.
On the other hand, the African Union (AU) has called on Mauritania rulers to “honour its commitment” and facilitate a swift return to constitutional order in the north western African nation.
In a statement released by the AU’s Peace and Security Council in Addis Ababa late on Thursday, the pan-African body also called on the Mauritanian leaders to take all measures to “shorten the transition period”.
The AU “encourages the Mauritanian authorities and other stakeholders to continue to work together for the swift return to constitutional order, to pursue and to enhance dialogue and consultation between all the stakeholders”.
On 3 August, troops seized power in a bloodless coup overthrowing then president Maaouyia Ould Taya while he was abroad and pledged a return to democratic rule in the tiny northwest African nation.
The AU urged the authorities to put in place mechanisms for the establishment of an independent electoral commission to in line with its commitment for a return to a democratic rule.
After the putsch, the new regime said general elections in the country would be held within two years.