Mauritania coup leaders stay put despite E.U ultimatum

The ruling military junta in Nouakchott is still doggedly refusing to abide by constitutional legality despite international pressures for the reinstatement of deposed Mauritanian President Ould Cheikh Abdellahi.

• The European Union issued late October an ultimatum to the coup leaders to restore constitutional order in Mauritania or face tough punitive sanctions.
• The European Union has threatened to impose sanctions against Mauritania if constitutional rule under democratically-elected President Abdallahi was not restored.
• The E. U deadline expires on Thursday November 20.
• Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, Mauritania's toppled president, has vowed to fight for the restoration of democracy in his country.
• Abdallahi was speaking to journalists after the military - which overthrew him in a coup on August 6 - set him free from house arrest in the capital Nouakchott and allowed him to travel to his home town.
• Besides journalists, politicians who have formed an anti-coup coalition, travelled to Lemden to meet Abdallahi, the country's first democratically elected leader.
• "We should be meeting next week to discuss the strategy to adopt," the ousted president said, without giving details of his plans.
• Diplomats said the junta's transfer of Abdallahi to Lemden from Nouakchott fell far short of international demands to restore democratic government.