AU delegation arrives as pressure on junta eases

Mauritania’s new military rulers, who seized power in a bloodless coup last week, met with a delegation from the African Union in the capital Nouakchott on Tuesday amid signs that the international community’s frosty reaction was thawing. The AU team, comprised of Nigerian and South African diplomats, arrived in Mauritania just hours after ousted president Maaouya Ould Taya went on Arabic television vowing to return home and urging soldiers to resist the new leadership. However, the reaction on the streets of Mauritania to the end of 21 years of authoritarian rule had been almost pure jubilation. People cheered, honked car horns and carried placards emblazoned with the portrait of junta leader, Col Ely Ould Mohamed Vall. Although the 53-nation AU swiftly condemned the seizure of power and suspended Mauritania’s membership last week, there were hints on Tuesday that the line was softening and the delegation would not be demanding Ould Taya’s reinstatement. “It is the Mauritanians who have to say who they want in power. It’s up to them to choose and we have nothing to say on that,” said Rantobeng William Mokou, South Africa’s ambassador to Mauritania and a member of the AU delegation, ahead of the talks. A similar shift in rhetoric could be seen from the United States. Ould Taya turned away from Iraq and became a staunch American ally in West Africa, allowing the US military to train his soldiers to fight radical militants believed to be operating in the nearby Sahara desert. Initially Washington had demanded the ousted president be returned to power, but briefing reporters on Monday, a State Department official was less categorical. “We’re not insisting on a given outcome other than it be a restoration of constitutional rule, of constitutional procedures and constitutional practices, consistent with international standards,” deputy spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters. Analysts said the friendlier tone from overseas could be the fruits of the junta’s promise not to stay in power for more than two years and other democratic pledges. Over the weekend the Military Council for Justice and Democracy appointed a civilian prime minister, promised a constitutional referendum within a year to be followed by legislative elections, and vowed that its 17 members and the caretaker government would not be eligible to stand in the first polls. “Regional and international actors wary of the 'classic' military takeover seem to have been ... reassured,” said Olly Owen, Africa analyst at London-based research group Global Insight, in a briefing note on Tuesday. Opposition parties and even Ould Taya's Social Democratic Republican Party (PRDS) have given their support to the timeframe outlined by the junta to take the country of 2.8 million people back to democracy. “The army has taken action but without the objective of confiscating power, rather with the objective of organising the conditions necessary for a real democracy to be installed,” said Ch’Bih Ould Cheikh Melainine, president of the opposition Mauritanian Popular Front. A statement from the PRDS on Sunday urged party members to “responsibly engage in any action that will support the programme of reforms set out by the council”. Analysts say that it won’t be long before the international community, led by the AU, follows suit so it can make sure the junta sticks to its promises. “The AU's rules mandated the country's suspension after the coup, but the regional community will be keen to re-engage sooner rather than later,” Owen of Global Insight said. Ahead of Tuesday’s talks, AU delegation member, Mokou, said he was optimistic. “The way things are going shows the maturity of Mauritanians. The absence of violence is very important and it can only facilitate dialogue with the authorities,” he told IRIN. As the diplomatic manoeuvres unfolded in Nouakchott, ousted president Ould Taya left Niger, where he had been forced to land as news of the coup broke while he was on his way back from Saudi Arabia. A spokesman for the presidency in Niger said he had flown out of the capital, Niamey, on Tuesday evening. “In theory, he is going to Banjul in Gambia,” the official told IRIN.