Military junta overthrows Mauritanian president News
Military junta overthrows Mauritanian president

[JURIST] A military group in Mauritania [CIA factbook profile] overthrew the president on Wednesday, with a junta taking temporary control of the West African nation. Mauritanian President Maaoya Sid'Ahmed Taya [Wikipedia profile], who has allied with the US in the war on terror and severely cracked down on extremists [AP report], was out of the country when soldiers took control. He remains in Niger after returning from King Fahd's funeral in Saudi Arabia. Taya himself came to power in a coup two decades ago and numerous coup attempts have been made against him previously [JURIST report]. AP has more.