Junta leader vows to fight terrorism, confirms ties with Israel

The head of Mauritania’s new junta has vowed to continue the fight against desert terrorists, saying the country will honor international commitments entered by the ousted government. In what the state news agency called the first-ever press conference by a Mauritanian head of state, military leader Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall also signalled that Mauritania would maintain its diplomatic ties to Israel - a relationship that since its inception in 1999 has been contentious in this Islamic republic straddling Arab and black Africa. “We have international commitments which we will respect entirely,” said Vall, who leads the military council that toppled 21-year president Maaouya Ould Taya in a bloodless coup in August. “We will do our best to block the proliferation of terrorism in our country,” Mauritania is one of several sub-Saharan African states where the United States is training soldiers in an effort to prevent international fundamentalist groups taking hold in the vast Sahel region. Calling terrorism a matter of national security, Vall said the phenomenon was contrary to Mauritanian values and custom. Shortly after seizing office, the military council in September announced a sweeping amnesty for political crimes, allowing exiles to return and freeing scores of prisoners, including coup plotters and some alleged Islamic extremists. But excluded from the general pardon were around 20 people alleged to have worked with the Algeria-based Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) - a movement linked to al-Qaeda. The GSPC claimed responsibility for an attack in June against a remote Mauritanian military barracks in which at least 15 soldiers were killed. Former leader Ould Taya touted a hard line against Islamic extremists, at times making sweeping arrests of people he accused of being Islamic radicals. But opposition leaders and international analysts say he exaggerated the extremist threat both to curry favour with the United States and as an excuse to stifle legitimate opponents. Some analysts say it was the ex-president’s harsh stance on Islamists that created an environment that encouraged extremists to strike out against the government. “The real impetus for terrorist activity was the extremely repressive nature of the former regime,” Olly Owen, Africa analyst at the London-based research group Global Insight, said. “If the political transition keeps up its momentum, you’ll likely see the terrorism problem die a natural death.” Junta leader Vall put his remarks about ties with Israel in the context of the Palestinian cause, in what Owen called a “canny” approach, given the sensitivity of the Arab-Palestinian issue among Mauritanians. Mauritania would always be among the nations supporting “the just cause of the Palestinian people,” Vall said, adding, “I assure you that this relationship [with Israel] is not to the detriment of the Palestinian people.” But some Mauritanian politicians continue to be dismayed at the Israel link. “Relations with Israel are against every religious conviction and against the will of the Mauritanian people,” said Ould Mansour, member of the Party of Democratic Convergence, which is considered pro-Islamist. Military leader sticks to transition vow, fails to commit on refugees Turning to domestic issues, Vall used the weekend press conference to reiterate the junta’s commitment to a return to elected civilian government, with presidential elections within two years. “The Military Council for Justice and Democracy is committed to its political reform plan, which will lead to a democratically elected president,” he said. Owen said that thus far the actions of the military council have been reassuring, but the road ahead is long and tough. “There will be difficult decisions down the line,” he said. “The essential thing is that they stick to the transition timetable.” Vall, referring to the some 20,000 black Mauritanian refugees exiled in Senegal for the past 16 years, said he would welcome them home, but fell short of saying he would organise a UN-sponsored return as called for by refugees and rights advocates. At least 30,000 Mauritanian refugees remain in Senegal and Mali of the 65,000 who fled ethnic violence in 1989-91. Last month a group of refugees and human rights activists appealed to the Mauritanian and Senegalese governments to organise a return under the auspices of the UN and international organisations. Abderrahmane Ngaide, who fled Mauritania in 1989 and has been a teacher and researcher in history at the University of Dakar for seven years, said he was disappointed that the military council appeared to be putting off the issue the refugees until after the transition. “They must assume their responsibilities,” he said. “But they are failing to do so in the case of the refugees.” He said the military council - many members of which were part of the Ould Taya regime - should come before the Mauritanian people, ask forgiveness for past wrongs, and move on. “We must not wait for the new government,” Ngaide said. “The time to deal with this is now.”