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Ely Ould Mohamed Vall

Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall (Arabic: إعلي ولد محمد فال‎; born 1953 in Nouakchott) was the military leader of Mauritania from a coup d'état in August 2005 until 19 April 2007, when he relinquished power to an elected government.

Vall was a long-time ally of President Maaouya Ould Taya, and participated in the December 1984 coup that brought Taya to power. Prior to the 2005 coup, he had been director of the national police force, the Sûreté Nationale, since 1987.^[1][2]

On 3 August 2005, Taya was ousted in a bloodless military coup while he was out of the country.^[3] A group of officers took power as the Military Council for Justice and Democracy and announced that Vall was the head of the council.^[4] He did not take the title of president because he said it should be reserved for elected leaders.^[5]

The new regime, condemned Ould Taya's government as "totalitarian",^[3] promised to lead the country to elections and the restoration of civilian rule within two years; a referendum on a new constitution was planned to be held within a year, and parliamentary and presidential elections would follow. Vall and the other members of the military council agreed not to run for president.^[6]

The coup was greeted with widespread support within Mauritania, but outside the country there was sharp condemnation. The African Union (which suspended Mauritania's membership), the European Union, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, and the United States all condemned the coup.^[6] However, this opposition weakened after several days and the regime appeared to win tacit international acceptance.^[7]

Vall maintained Mauritania's diplomatic relationship with Israel.^[5] Mauritania and Israel initiated full diplomatic relations in 1999 under Taya, a decision which contributed to the latter's unpopularity. After the coup, Ahmed Ould Sid'Ahmed, who had been foreign minister at the time diplomatic relations were established, was reappointed to the position.^[8]

The constitutional referendum was held on June 25, 2006 and approved by 97% of voters.^[9] The new constitution limits presidents to two five-year terms (under Taya, presidential terms had lasted six years and there was no limit on re-election) and requires a president to swear not to change the term limits (several other African countries have seen term limits removed from their constitutions so that presidents could continue to run for re-election).^[10][11] Vall toured the country beforehand to promote it and called it a "historical opportunity".^[12] Parliamentary and local elections were held on November 19, 2006, which Vall praised as "the first time Mauritanians have been able to express themselves freely"; he also said that the difficulty of changing the constitution would preserve democracy in the future. Vall announced that he would step down after the March 2007 presidential election.^[13] The election was ultimately won by Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi in the second round of voting. Abdallahi's opponents alleged that his candidacy was supported by Vall's regime.^[14] Prior to the handover, Mauritania was allowed back into the African Union on April 10.^[15] On April 19, Abdallahi took office, completing the transition to civilian democratic rule.^[16]

References

1. ^ "Mauritania's new military leader", BBC.co.uk, August 8, 2005.
2. ^ "Political Transition in Mauritania", International Crisis Group, April 24, 2006.
3. ^ ^{a b} "Army seizes power to end "totalitarian regime"", IRIN, August 3, 2005.
4. ^ "New military rulers face worldwide condemnation", IRIN, August 4, 2005.
5. ^ ^{a b} Heidi Vogt, "Mauritania Leader Aims to Avoid Oil Curse", Associated Press (The Washington Post), April 23, 2006.
6. ^ ^{a b} Hademine Ould Sadi, "Mauritania's new junta keeps on winning friends", Middle East Online, August 8, 2005.
7. ^ Hademine Ould Sadi, "Military rulers in Mauritania win AU backing", Middle East Online, August 10, 2006.
8. ^ Ahmed Mohamed, "Freed Islamic leaders in Mauritania say ousted leader's policies fomented extremism", Associated Press, August 10, 2005.
9. ^ "Mauritania's constitution gets 96.96% yes vote", Middle East Online, June 28, 2006.
10. ^ Todd Pitman, "Oil-Rich Mauritania Holds Historic Vote", Associated Press (The Washington Post), June 25, 2006.
11. ^ Todd Pitman, "Mauritania Step Closer to Civilian Rule", Associated Press (The Washington Post), June 26, 2006.
12. ^ "Military junta launches pro-democracy poll", IRIN, June 23, 2006.
13. ^ Daniel Flynn, "INTERVIEW-Mauritania junta chief hails new democratic era", Reuters, November 21, 2006.
14. ^ "Mauritania has a new president", AFP (IOL), March 26, 2007.
15. ^ "Mauritania readmitted to AU", AFP (IOL), April 11, 2007.
16. ^ "Mauritania swears in new president", Al Jazeera, April 19, 2007.