Mauritanians were voting in high numbers Sunday in watershed presidential elections aimed at ushering in a democratic era in the north-west African republic, according to dpa. Men and women wearing colourful long robes queued in front of polling stations in the capital Nouakchott in what was believed to be the first transparent presidential poll in the desert country of 3.3 million residents. Military leader Ely Ould Mohammed Vall, who was not running for president, said he had the feeling of having "done his duty" in completing the 19-month transition to democracy. "There will not be another coup in Mauritania, because the reasons for repeated coups have disappeared," Ould Vall said after casting his ballot. About 1.3 million people were eligible to choose between 11 independent candidates and eight who were backed by political parties.
