Newspaper closed in continuing crackdown on Islamic militants

The government of Mauritania has closed an Arabic language newspaper and issued a warrant for the arrest of its publisher who has gone into hiding, the Media Foundation for West Africa reported on Thursday. The move followed a month-long crackdown on Islamic militants in the mainly desert country of less than three million people which is gearing up for presidential elections in December. The Ghana-based Media Foundation for West Africa said the Mauritanian government had closed the weekly newspaper Erraya on May 29 for "subversion and intolerance." It had subsequently issued a warrant for the arrest of Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Seyidi, the chairman of its board of directors. The press freedom group said that Erraya's editor, Ahmedou Ould Wediaa, who was intending to appeal against the ban, had not been seen since May 30. The International Federation of Human Rights Leagues(IFHRL)reported on Wednesday that a string of opposition activists had been arrested and put on trial in an apparent attempt to hamstring opponents of President Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya. The head of state came to power in a 1984 coup and is widely expected to seek re-election in December. But Mauritania's electoral code bars all those who have been convicted in a court of law from standing for the presidency. The Paris-based IFHRL protested against the trial of nine members of the banned opposition Nouhoud party who were sentenced on 29 May to prison sentences ranging from three to six months. It said they were convicted for "the creation of an unauthorised association and the resurrection of a political party after it had been disolved." The human rights organisation said the trial was flawed, not least because a government-nominated defence team entered a "guilty" plea on behalf of the accused without consulting them. The IFHRL also called for the immediate release of several university professors, religious leaders, judges, and other critics of the government who it said were arrested in early May on charges of plotting against the state. The Pan African News Agency PANA, meanwhile reported that 30 members of another opposition party, the Movement of Democratic Forces, and a Muslim preacher appeared before a court in the capital Nouakchott on Tuesday to face charges of treason. They were accused of "using places of worship for subversive propaganda and having connection with foreign networks," it said. PANA said they were arrested in early May. The judge denied bail and ordered the accused to remain in prison, it added. The Media Foundation of West Africa said it was worried about the state of media freedom and freedom of expression in Mauritania. "We appeal to the government of President Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya to guarantee the security of Ahmedou Ould Wediaa and lift the ban imposed on this newspaper", it said in a statement. The government has in the past stifled media criticism using a 1991 press freedom law which allows it to ban "the circulation, dissemination or sale.... of newspapers or periodicals...likely to udnermine the principles of Islam or the image of the State, to harm the public good, to compromise public order and security, whatever the language in which it is written."