Mauritania

Mauritania's ruling party, Insaf, wins parliamentary majority

29 May 2023; MEMO: The ruling Insaf party in Mauritania secured a comfortable majority in the next parliament, winning more than 100 seats, according to the partial results of the second round of the legislative elections, which were held on Saturday.

Insaf won more than 23 seats in the second round in addition to the 80 seats it had already won in the first round.

With at least 103 seats in the next parliament, the party has secured a comfortable and unprecedented parliamentary majority.

Mauritania: opposition parties reject 'manipulated' election results

17 May 2023; MEMO: The main opposition parties in Mauritania have rejected the results of the parliamentary, regional and local elections held last Saturday, describing them as "heavily manipulated". They have called for the results in a number of areas to be annulled, including those in the capital, Nouakchott.

Mauritania denies participating in training program hosted by Israel

28 Mar 2023; MEMO: Mauritania, on Tuesday, denied participation in an environmental training program hosted by Israel, Anadolu News Agency reports.

On Sunday, Israeli television channel, i24News, said Mauritania was among participants in a training program hosted by Israel to help African countries deal with desertification in the Sahara region.

Mauritania: 4 terrorists escape from Nouakchott central prison

NOUAKCHOTT, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Four terrorists held at the central prison of Nouakchott, capital of the northwest African country Mauritania, escaped Sunday night, the Mauritanian Interior Ministry said on Monday.

The escapees "killed two national guardsmen and wounded two others," the ministry said in a statement, asking people to "report any information that could help find the fugitives."

"The National Guard has tightened control of the prison and immediately launched the hunt for the fugitives," the statement said, without identifying the fugitives. 

Russia, Mauritania set to scale up economic ties — Lavrov

NOUAKCHOTT, February 8. /TASS/:  Moscow and Nouakchott consider it necessary to boost economic ties, especially direct communication between business companies of the two countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday after a meeting with President of Mauritania Mohamed Ould Ghazouani.

China writes off $25.3m of debt owed by Mauritania

26 Jan 2022; MEMO: Mauritania and China yesterday signed an agreement under which China wrote off part of its debts owed by the Mauritanian government.

The agreement was signed in the capital Nouakchott by Mauritanian Minister of Economic Affairs and Promotion of Productive Sectors Ousmane Mamoudou Kane, and the Chinese Ambassador Li Bai Jun, according to a statement from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Mauritania denies making contact with Israel

03 Sep 2021; MEMO: Mauritania has denied media reports that it has been making contact with Israel for the establishment of diplomatic relations, the Palestinian Information Centre has reported.

According to Israeli media, Tel Aviv is in touch with a number of Arab and Islamic countries, including Mauritania, for this purpose.

47 migrants found dead on Mauritanian coast

NOUAKCHOTT, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Forty-seven migrants were found drowned on Aug. 16 off the coast of Nouadhibou, northwest Mauritania, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) announced in a joint statement.

According to the statement received on Thursday by Xinhua, a boat carrying the migrants left on Aug. 3 from North Africa's Atlantic coast for the Canary Islands and was carrying 54 people, including three children.

Ex-Mauritania president jailed as corruption charges case continues

24 June 2021; MEMO: Former Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has been arrested after a judge in charge of a corruption probe ordered his incarceration for failing to abide by the terms of his judicial supervision.

According to RT, the judge heard the arguments of Ould Abdel Aziz in the Palace of Justice before deciding to refer him to detention.

Strict security measures were imposed in the vicinity of the Palace of Justice during the hearing.

Facebook blocks ex-Mauritania official for welcoming Hamas leader

23 June 2021; MEMO: Facebook blocked former Mauritanian Minister Sidi Mohamed Ould Maham from posting on his page after he welcomed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh who is visiting Nouakchott, Safa news agency reported yesterday.

The former official welcomed Haniyeh and the accompanying delegation who arrived in the country to hold meetings with several popular and official figures.

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