Abdallahi no longer Mauritania leader: TV statement

NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) - A "State Council" led by Mauritania's former presidential guard chief said on Wednesday President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was no longer president.

"Statement No. 1" from the council, which was broadcast by Gulf-based al-Arabiya television, annulled what it described as the "former president's" previous decree sacking several top military officers. State television was taken off air.

Those sacked by Abdallahi included presidential guard chief Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, who the statement said chaired the state council. Shortly after the sackings were announced soldiers seized Abdallahi and other government officials.

(Reporting by Inal Ersan and Firouz Sedarat in Dubai, writing by Alistair Thomson; Editing by Jon Boyle)