Mauritania's military rulers, facing criticism at home and abroad of their Aug. 6 coup, unveiled a new government on Monday nearly a month after taking power in the Saharan Islamic state. The announcement of the 22-minister cabinet followed difficult negotiations with political parties and came in the face of widespread international condemnation of the bloodless overthrow of President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi. The government named by the military High Council of State kept on four key ministers -- for Defence, Finance, Economy and Justice -- who had served under the deposed Abdallahi. General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz's ruling junta also brought into the cabinet officials and technocrats who had worked in the transitional government under military control that handed over to civilian rule in 2007 after multi-party elections. On Aug. 14, the junta had named Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf, a respected former ambassador to Belgium and the European Union, as prime minister. Although the coup has garnered some support in Mauritania's political establishment, the country's main opposition party, the Rally of Democratic Forces (RFD), and others have refused to participate in the new government. There have been some street protests against the junta. Opponents have criticised it for failing to announce a clear timetable for elections and for not ruling out the possibility that its members might run in any future polls, a move strongly opposed by the international community. The African Union has suspended Mauritania and major donors like France and the United States, which have viewed Mauritania as an ally in the fight against Islamist militants, have frozen some non-humanitarian aid.
