U.S. urges release of Mauritanian president

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States condemned a coup in Mauritania on Wednesday and urged the military to release the president and prime minister and restore the democratically elected government.

"We call on the military to release President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghef and to restore the legitimate, constitutional, democratically elected government immediately," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement.

Abdallahi, Mauritania's first democratically elected president, was overthrown and arrested along with his prime minister on Wednesday by the head of his presidential guard, Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz.

"We oppose any attempts by military elements to change governments through extra-constitutional means," Rice said.

She welcomed statements by the African Union and the European Union condemning the coup. "The United States looks to all of our international partners to condemn this anti-democratic action."

Earlier, the State Department said the U.S. embassy in Mauritania was still working and had sent out warnings to Americans there to stay at home.

Late last year, Mauritania was selected by the Bush administration's Millennium Challenge Corporation to participate in a two-year "threshold program," which can help developing countries qualify for U.S. aid.

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Randall Mikkelsen and Jackie Frank)