Mauritania Talks Breakdown as Gadhafi Accused of Siding with Coup Leader

Mauritania Talks Breakdown as Gadhafi Accused of Siding with Coup Leader
Broadcast date: 3-12-2009 / Written by Brent Latham

From http://www.unsv.com/voanews/english/
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi left Mauritania on Thursday after failing to
bring the political crisis there any closer to a resolution. Mauritanian political
leaders have accused Mr. Gadhafi of siding with the general who orchestrated
last year's coup.

The head of a coalition of Mauritanian political parties opposing the military
leaders who seized power last year has said that talks toward the resolution of
the country's political crisis have ended unsuccessfully.

Abdel Koudousse Ould Abdeidna, leader of the National Front for Democracy
Defense, said mediation had failed, and accused Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gadhafi of favoring coup
leader General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

"They failed during mediation because obviously they cannot separate
themselves from the general. And I am surprised to see a general listening to
orders of a colonel. This is a surprise," he said.

The Front for Democracy Defense, or FNDD, is one of three principal parties
involved in negotiating an end to the crisis, along with the military government
and a third political party that formed the main opposition group before the
coup.

The FNDD has opposed the coup since it took place in August, and is
demanding a return to democracy and constitutional order. Members of the coalition walked out of the
negotiations soon after they began on Wednesday, citing what they called Mr. Gadhafi's lack of respect for the
democratic principles they espouse.

"He said for him democracy and coup d'etatwere equal," said Abdel Koudousse Ould Abdeidna. "We believe that
in order to avoid coup d'etat, we need to have fair elections, but not only fair election - we had fair elections -
and then we need democracy. This is why we have been fighting. So for us, it is extremely important that
people understand that it is the population who is asking for democracy and not the West that's imposing
democracy upon the population," he said.

Abdeidna said it was disappointing to hear what he called the anti-democratic principles of the mediator sent by
the African Union, but that he was not surprised given that Mr. Gadhafi is, in Abdeidna's words, "a man of
coups himself."

"We don't understand how come a mediator who was supposed to defend the cause of democracy will help us
to embrace something we've been fighting for nine months, thinking that we were willing or keen to accept a
token of gratitude from the general," he said.

The African Union sent Moammar Gadhafi, who currently holds the rotating head of the pan-African body, to
mediate the crisis, hoping he could find a solution acceptable to Mauritanian stakeholders and the international
community.

But Abdeidna says a resolution in Mauritania is less likely than ever.
"We believe that the African Union and the international community should help Mauritania get rid of the
general, in a very peaceful way, by pursuing what the international community has decided to do. Other than
that I don't see any solution in the near future," he said.

The African Union has imposed sanctions and travel restrictions on the government of General Aziz, and the
European Union is threatening to do the same if democracy is not restored.

Moammar Gadhafi
Abdel Koudousse Ould Abdeidna