Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz

President of Mauritania

General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz  born 1956. Is a Mauritanian military officer. He was a leading figure in the August 2005 coup that deposed President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, and in August 2008 he led another coup that toppled President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef. Following the latter coup, Abdel Aziz became President of the High Council of State as part of what was described as a political transition leading to a new election.
Born in 1956 at Akjoujt, Abdelaziz joined the armed forces in 1977 and attended the Royal Military Academy at Meknes in Morocco before rising through the ranks of the army. He set up the elite presidential guard unit known as the BASEP (Presidential Security Battalion). Abdelaziz was instrumental in putting down an attempted coup in June 2003 and a military insurrection in August 2004, for which he received the nation's highest military award.
On the morning of 6 August 2008 Abdel Aziz was ordered removed by Abdallahi from his command, along with several senior officers including General Muhammad Ould Al-Ghazwani, General Philippe Swikri, and Brigadier General (Aqid) Ahmad Ould Bakri. The first announcement of the State Council was to annul this decree.
By 9:20 local time, BASEP troops seized the President, Prime Minister, and Interior Minister in the capital, Nouakchott. Mauritania television was taken off the air earlier, but Persian Gulf-based al-Arabiya television played an announcement said to be from the new junta. According to an official statement released on August 7, Abdallahi's powers were terminated and Mauritania would be governed on a transitional basis by an 11-member High Council of State, with Abdel Aziz as the President of the Council, until a new presidential election was held "as soon as possible".
Neighboring support has been somewhat forthcoming, with Morocco's government press calling Abdel Aziz a partiot an advisor of the Moroccan king coming to Nouakchott to meet with Abdul Aziz and the Algerian government quietly receiving a visit from Abdel Aziz's longtime ally and the new Mauritanian Chief of Armed Forces, Muhammad Ould Al-Ghazwani
The BBC has pointed out that the General, who was previously seen as a supporting player in the 2005 coup, is now seen as having been the power behind the previous junta. It was also noted that the General, never seen without his military uniform, is already addressed by government staff as "president". An ally of Abdel Aziz was quoted saying "He's a simple man, who likes order."  Apart from deriding corruption and government inaction, Abdel Aziz has stressed his opposition to Islamic fundamentalism. A internet threat, released on 12 August, alleged to be from Al-Queda threatened the coup leaders, and General Abdel Aziz took the opportunity to stress his fidelity to the anti-terrorist operation which the United States government had funded in Mauritania since 2003 but suspended following the 6 August coup.