Ex-Mauritanian President Accuses Successor of Allying with Muslim Brotherhood to Eliminate Him

Mauritania's former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. (Reuters)
Mauritania's former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. (Reuters)
TT

Ex-Mauritanian President Accuses Successor of Allying with Muslim Brotherhood to Eliminate Him

Mauritania's former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. (Reuters)
Mauritania's former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. (Reuters)

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.



EU Urges Immediate Halt to Israel-Hezbollah War

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
TT

EU Urges Immediate Halt to Israel-Hezbollah War

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war while on a visit to Lebanon on Sunday, as the group claimed attacks deep into Israel.  

The Israeli military said Iran-backed Hezbollah fired around 160 projectiles into Israel during the day. Some of them were intercepted but others caused damage to houses in central Israel, according to AFP images.  

A day after the health ministry said Israeli strikes on Beirut and across Lebanon killed 84 people, state media reported two strikes on Sunday on the capital's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.

Israel's military said it had attacked "headquarters" of the group "hidden within civilian structures" in south Beirut.

War between Israel and Hezbollah escalated in late September, nearly a year after the group began launching strikes in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas following that group's October 7 attack on Israel.

The conflict has killed at least 3,754 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the health ministry, most of them since September.  

On the Israeli side, authorities say at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians have been killed.  

Earlier this week, US special envoy Amos Hochstein said in Lebanon that a truce deal was "within our grasp" and then headed to Israel for talks with officials there.  

In the Lebanese capital, Borrell held talks with parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, who has led mediation efforts on behalf of ally Hezbollah.

"We see only one possible way ahead: an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701," Borrell said.  

"Lebanon is on the brink of collapse", he warned.  

Under Resolution 1701, which ended the last Hezbollah-Israel war of 2006, Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only armed forces present in the southern border area.  

The resolution also called for Israel to withdraw troops from Lebanon, and reiterated earlier calls for "disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon."