U.N. regrets coup in Mauritania, wants order restored
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday called for the immediate restoration of order in Mauritania, where soldiers overthrew the northwest African Islamic state's elected president.
"The secretary-general calls for respect for the rule of law and the immediate restoration of constitutional order in the country," a U.N. spokeswoman told reporters. She added that Ban regretted the coup.
Mauritanian soldiers earlier overthrew President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, the country's first democratically elected president, and announced the formation of a military junta.
Mauritania is one of Africa's newest oil producers which also mines iron, copper and gold.
(Reporting by Megan Davies; Editing by Sandra Maler)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
The Wall's economic legacy
Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, much of the East German economy has cast off the shackles of its Communist past. But some of the changes have come at a price. Full Article | Full Coverage
Chavez, troops to prepare for war
