team+9+Mauritania

= = **Mauritania**

Intro:
Mauritania a country located in the West of Africa (Maghreb), Facing the Atlantic ocean from the west side. The country is border by Morocco from the north, Algeria and Mali from the east and finally Senegal from the south. Mauritania got its name from the ancient Berber Kingdom of Mauretania because it was inhabited by blacks and Berbers. Until it was invaded by the French in the 19th century, it became one of the important colonized countries by the French, that they named it “French overseas territory.” The country is mostly surrounded by a desert; moreover the capital of Mauritania is Nouakchott which is the located on the Atlantic coast. Mauritania is a country with a lot of Plateaus and plains, the weather in Mauritania is a very hot weather in most of the year. People of Mauritania mostly work at fisishing, farming or getting or making metals, like iron gold, copper and gypsum.

Mauritania’s became an independent country in Nov 28, 1960. First independent president was Ould Daddah, and he lasted for 18 years in power. Until 1991, Ould Daddah was over thrown by the Military Committee for National Salvation. One of the critical dates in the history of Mauritania is the day when the Spanish departed in 1975, leaving behind them the Spanish Sahara (Western Sahara). This later created a dispute between several countries in that region, leaving Mauritania in control over the southern third. Thus, the Polisario (indigenous Saharawi rebels) fought for their right to own a territory of land in the Western Sahara against Mauritania and Morocco. This made the Ould Daddah (President) to spend more money than usual on Military purposes, thus lead to the downfall of Ould Daddah in 1978. Finally, in 1984 Maaouye Ould Sidi took control over the government of Mauritania. Ould Sidi took immediate actions by fighting corruption and held Mauritania’s first multiparty parliamentary elections in 1986, to establish democracy, and to stop unethical acts and racially based problems from arising. Thus lead to a big conflict between Blacks who lived in the south region, and the Moorish – Arabs who lived in the North. Finally 1989, Mauritania went to war with Senegal because of shared borders.

** Sources: ** **http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Mauritania** **http://africanhistory.about.com/od/mauritania/p/MauritaniaHist1.htm**
 * __ Name :__ Firas Nabil**

  

= //President Moktar Ould Daddah// = Mauritania from 1950 to 1970:

//In the 1950s Fance had Mauritania as one of the countries that they rule in Africa but in 1956 Mauritania got an Internal self-government and// Nouakchott //becom the capital for the country. In the year of 1958 Mauritania became The Islamic Republic of Mauritania. Also at that same year the Mauritaniain Army were made. Moreover, Moktar Ould Daddah became the first prime minstor for the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. On November 28////th// //of 1960, The Islamic Republeic of Mauritania became an independent country and Moktar Ould Daddah became the first president of Mauritania.////At the end of the year 1961, the first legal party was made, which was Mauritanian People's Party,PPM. Its originally was called by the french name because most people at that time in Mauritania were able to speak French. The French name was (Parti du Peuple Mauritanienne, PPM ). The PPM foreign policy were very opposition to make any kind of a relationship with the french government. Because there was only one political power in the 1960s in Mauritania that led to a conflict between some of the Mauritanian people who were afraid of the Arab domination, because the PPM were mostly Arab. The people who were afraid of the PPM domination were Black people not Arabs and they were mostly located in the south side of the country. Because of all the problems in the government in the 1960s between the Arabs and blacks and with all the Arab majority in the government the president Moktar Ould Daddah added some black and non-Arab people to his government.//

Hassan Alsinan Sources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Mauritania_%281960%E2%80%931978%29 http://www.portailnational.gov.mr/PortailNational/English/home

**1990-2011:**
//**The Massacre**// Between November 1990 and February 1991, around 600 Peuls and Soninke political prisoners were tortured and killed by the Mauritanian government. They were tortured and killed because they were thought to have been involved in an attempt to overthrow the government. The high death toll was due to a combination of the torture and lack of medical care. Also, an unknown number of blacks were found dead by extrajudicial execution done by the security forces. An investigation was done but the results were never made public. In June 1993, the Parliament declared amnesty in order to protect those responsible and prevent any attempts at accountability for previous abuses. This covered all crimes done by the security forces, civilians and armed forces between April 1989 and April 1992. Compensationswere offered to the victim’s families but many refused it as a settlement. Former ministers, lawyers, doctors, professors, The Mauritanian Workers Union, women and many others were unhappy with the amnesty and sent letters and signed a petition to President Taya calling for the government to provide for the families and end the silence.

**//Mauritania's Multi-Party Democracy//** After taking control of the government in 1984, Col. Maaouye Ould Sidi Ahmed Taya, won the very first multiparty presidential election in 1992. Mauritania held its third presidential election on November 7, 2003 where president Taya was reelected. Many opposers claim that this election was rigged and that the government was at fault for it. However, the government used the proper safeguards for the election. Taya’s pursuit to restructure the economy caused many protests and riots and in August 2005, he was forcefully taken out of office. Colonel Vall deemed the Military Council for Justice and Democracy to run Mauritania. The council broke from the parliament and arranged a new government. A new constitution was approved in June 2006 and many elections were held that started in November 2006 until march 2007. In April 2007, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdellahi was elected as president. In August 6, 2008, President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was overthrown in a military coup d’etat that was led by General Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz. General Aziz then left the military and ran for president in the July elections which he won. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107771.html?pageno=3 http://africanhistory.about.com/od/mauritania/p/MauritaniaHist1.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauritania
 * Sources:**

**Name:** **Alivia Rouse**