Mauritania’s former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has accused his successor of allying with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) organization to eliminate him politically and try him on “insubstantial” charges.
Abdel Aziz, who has been pursued by authorities on corruption charge, issued a statement on Saturday in which he accused President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani and his Brotherhood supporters of “fabricating political crisis over the newly-created ‘reference’ concept.”
He warned that pro-Brotherhood figures have “infiltrated” the camp of new supporters of the president, “who has opened his arms to this dangerous movement.”
Moreover, he slammed the referral of suspected cases of corruption against him to the judiciary, saying it is a “dangerous” escalation against him.
He noted that the majority of lawmakers, who support the president, back the investigation committee, which was initially proposed by the Brotherhood and some of its allies.
The probe is aimed at “incriminating me even before obtaining any evidence,” he charged.
He said the committee has started to work “selectively” and issued “false charges against me and my family. The accusations are based on official Qatar documents that claimed that I had gifted a Mauritanian island to the former Emir of Qatar, which is of course completely untrue.”
Abdel Aziz said he will hold a press conference on Tuesday, his second since the eruption of the political crisis between him and his successor.
A parliamentary inquiry commission had previously urged holding those suspected of being involved in corruption deals during Abdel Aziz’s rule accountable, including the president himself and members of his family.
Police on Wednesday shut the headquarters of the Democratic Socialist Unionist Party, for allegedly being a front for Abdel Aziz’s political work.
