Mauritanians are still wondering who fired a gun at their country’s president. What the latest whodunit tells us about the state of democracy in a strategic corner of West Africa.
On
the night of October 13, a car carrying Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould
Abdel Aziz approached a military checkpoint. In one version of
the story,
the driver of the car -- possibly the president himself -- disobeyed an order
to stop, and soldiers opened fire. Abdel Aziz sustained a wound, reportedly to
his arm. He was treated initially at a military hospital in the capital
Nouakchott and then evacuated to Paris, where he remained for some forty days,
convalescing. As Abdel Aziz's absence lengthened, Mauritania's opposition
called for the implementation of a transitional political framework, and
uneasiness grew in the streets. The president's return on November 24 put some doubts
to rest and seemed to confirm that he remains in control of the country. Yet the
shooting raised a central question in Mauritanian politics: To what extent has
the country built credible institutions of civilian democracy, and to what
extent does its politics remain dominated by the military, or by Abdel Aziz
himself?
Abdel Aziz, at the time a colonel and head of the Presidential Guard (BASEP), was a key leader in the 2005 coup. That coup paved the way for a transition to civilian rule under President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, who took office in 2007. But the military perceived Abdallahi's approach to Muslim militancy as too lenient, and commanders grew tired of Abdallahi's struggles with parliament. As conflict between Abdallahi and Abdel Aziz grew, the President attempted to fire the (by then) General. Abdel Aziz seized power in August 2008.
The 2008 coup drew international condemnation. The U.S. and the European Union suspended aid. But Abdel Aziz organized, contested, and won "generally free and fair" elections in July 2009. Ruling as a civilian president has brought Abdel Aziz international legitimacy, and foreign aid has resumed. Intensifying a trend that began among Mauritanian military rulers after September 11, 2001, Abdel Aziz has also won international support by presenting himself as tough on terrorists, especially Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which has (under different names) perpetrated attacks in Mauritania since 2005. Under Abdel Aziz, the Mauritanian military has foiled AQIM plots, clashed with militants at remote outposts and, in 2010 and 2011, hunted AQIM fighters in northern Mali. During the turmoil in Mali this year, which has involved the seizure of northern Mali by a coalition of armed Islamists that includes AQIM, Mauritania has held its forces back. American and European officials, however, have been visiting the Mauritanian capital as they consider policy options toward Mali and the broader Sahel.
Given Mauritania's history, coups and terrorists leapt to many observers' minds when Abdel Aziz was shot. "President Shot ‘By Accident' in Land Where Coups Prevail," one headline read. "Mauritania Shooting May Have al-Qaida Link, Some Say," read another. The weeks since the shooting have brought little evidence to corroborate either the coup theory or the terrorism theory, but have also brought little information that would convince skeptics to believe the official story. The televised account of one of the soldiers who allegedly fired at Abdel Aziz's car did not put an end to questions about the story's authenticity.
In the weeks after the shooting before the president's return, the focus of political debate in Mauritania moved from the question of what happened on October 13 to the question of what would happen next. The opposition umbrella group known as the Coordination of the Democratic Opposition went from calling for an investigation into the shooting to calling for a transitional political framework to guide the country in the president's absence. As part of this call, some in the opposition broached the issue of the military's role in politics.
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