More on Mauritania (Abu Nasr)

["Pieinsky" <pieinsky@xxxxxxx>]

Dear Jay,

Here's something I've taken from an article in
Thursday's as-Safir from Beirut.  The first part --
the remarks by the Mauritanian dissident -- are all a
verbatim translation of the article.  But where it
says, "so much for what he says, now what is are the
facts," or something to that effect, from there on in
I just paraphrased the comment by the author Sami
Kulaybi.  Kulaybi is as-Safir's veteran "Israeli"
affairs writer.

Two main points in this are, I think, important.

1. That the US and Zionists are here said to have had
a direct role in crushing the rebellion, and

2. That the Free Officers involved in the attempted
coup are presented as "secularists and democrats
[which latter word often means 'leftists'] and not
Islamists.  It is possible that the US and Zionists
would hope to gain by claiming that the attempted coup
was Islamist in nature and therefore "linked with
al-Qa'idah."

On the other hand, it's not impossible that this story
is an attempt to try to play the French off against
the US and Zionists over Mauritania.  Of course, there
is no reason why such a contradiction should not be
used if that is possible, in an attempt to weaken the
US and Zionist hold on the country.  At present,
however, that would seem a long shot.

Best!

Muhammad

---------------------------

http://www.assafir.com/iso/today/front/154.html

As-Safir, Beirut, Thursday, 12 June 2003.

A New Reading of the Coup in Mauritania:
Did Israel help save Walad at-Tayi'?

Sami Kulayb

An Mauritanian oppositionist activist has contacted
as-Safir to tell us that a unit of Israeli commandos
helped crush the rebellion against President Mu'awiyah
walad at-Tayi'.  The informant reported that members
of the Israeli commando unit joined American security
consultants who hastened to Nuwakashot in the hours
that followed the attempts to overthrow the regime.
France, however, seems to have played no role at all
in what occurred.  All of this is denied by sources
with the Mauritanian authorities who describe the
report as an attempt to "throw dust in people's eyes."

The Mauritanian dissident activist, who was speaking
on behalf of the movement Conscience and Resistance,
said that the young officers who carried out the
attempted coup and whose ages range between 25 and 43,
originally belonged to an anti-Israel current who were
angered over Mauritania's opening up to American and
Israeli intelligence.  He said that their movement was
responding to general conditions related to the
political, economic, and social conditions in the
country and in particular in response to the
stranglehold that had encircled them and their
arbitrary dismissals from the military.

The informant reported that rebel tanks were destroyed
during the rebellion only with direct assistance of
the Israeli commandos.

The oppositionist activist, who is offers a different
image of the rebels from that presented by President
Walad at-Tayi' in his address following the coup.  The
dissident affirms that "the Free Officers were the
ones who attempted the coup, and they don't belong to
any Islamic current.  In fact some of them are as far
as one can be from the propositions of the Muslim
Brotherhood and such like, for among the Officers are
secularists and democrats."

[Jay: "Free Officers" was the name of the group including Gamal Abdel-Nasser
that overthrew King Farouk in Egypt in 1952.]
He adds that "former Captain Salih walad Hannanah, one
of the most prominent rebels, had been expelled from
the army directly after Mauritania established
diplomatic relations with Israel, and a number of his
rebel comrades studied and trained in western
countries - contrary to the information that some have
spread around about their supposed relationship with
Islamicists."

The Mauritanian oppositionist also wants to correct
the idea that the officers all came from the eastern
part of Mauritania.  He says in fact that Muhammad
walad Shaykhina, Chairman of the first bureau in the
Staff Command is from the center of the country.
Ahmad Salim walad Ka'bash is from the north, and
Muhammad walad 'Abd ad-Dayim (a pilot) is from the
south.

As to the reasons for the attempted coup, the
Mauritanian oppositionist reports that they are many,
beginning with the general situation in Mauritania
where economic deterioration is being accompanied by
the repression of freedoms and an intensified
crackdown on all the oppositionists - not only on the
Islamists.  In addition there was the opening up of
the country to Israel and America at the time when
Israel is killing Palestinians, which was followed by
random dismissals and restrictions imposed on young
officers that came due to reasons related to pressure
from outside the country, and with a view to the
powers that be remaining in charge and in possession
of their personal interests.

Among the many examples of this, for example, was the
mass dismissal of about 60 pilots in recent days, and
the permission given to the intelligence service to
keep tabs on many of the officers, accusing them of
taking part in posing threats to the country.

So much for the account of the oppositionist.  What
are the facts regarding what he has reported?

 [As-Safir's commentator says that one of the reasons
for Mauritania's opening up to Israel and the United
States was its desire for foreign aid, which it had
failed to receive from the Arab League.  This opening,
in turn, came at the expense of France.  Repression of
the opposition also complicated Mauritania's relations
with France, a country that frequently makes human
rights an issue in its foreign policy.  At one point,
the French government arrested and charged a
Mauritanian officer, who happened to visit France,
with involvement in torture.

The Zionist Lobby not only established relations with
the government, as-Safir's commentator says, but also
with many former oppositionists.  Sizable bank
transfers, for example, were made to the accounts of
some former opponents of Walad at-Tayi', including
some resident in France.  This phenomenon provoked
articles in the Mauritanian press, since a number of
such individuals began praising the opening up to
Israel using language that surpassed even the official
Mauritanian tones.

A European source with expertise in African affairs
told as-Safir that the rebels had made a key mistake
by underestimating the American and Israeli stake in
the Mauritanian regime.  Mauritania, which in the past
had been able to sow discord between Algeria and
Morocco, is now an important window to northwest
Africa and as a "bridge" over which to push Arab
normalization with the Zionist entity.

The Mauritanian authorities have issued an arrest
warrant for nine military officers suspected of having
led the rebellion, all of whom are currently
fugitives.  The warrant includes former colonel Salih
walad Hannanah, who is frequently presented as the
leader of the movement, as well as two other colonels,
four captains, and two lieutenants whose identities
have not been made public.]