Constitutional rule has been restored in Mauritania, according to an evaluation team sent by the European Union, which imposed sanctions after the August 2008 military coup. "The return to constitutional order during a consensual process of ending a crisis has formally been achieved," EU delegation member Filiberto Sebregondi told a press conference Oct. 7. Coup leader Gen. Ould Abdel Aziz was elected president in a July poll contested by the opposition as a "massive fraud."

Sebregondi said that while Brussels sent no observers for the elections, the EU "takes account" of the view of other international observers who called the election "free, legal and transparent."

The World Bank also announced it is resuming aid to Mauritania, freeing up $14 million frozen after the coup d'etat, and NATO is resuming full cooperation. NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue security forum is aimed at improving regional security by linking the organizaiton's 28 members with non-NATO countries Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Mauritania. (AFP, Oct. 8; VOA, Oct. 6)

See our last post on Mauritania.

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