Mauritanians went to polls Saturday in presidential elections meant to restore political stability and the country's international legitimacy after a 2008 military coup. The elections were the first since Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz toppled president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi in a bloodless coup in August 2008, according to a report of the German News Agency "DPA". Cheikh Abdallahi, who was regarded as Mauritania's first democratically elected president, had only held the post for 17 months.