NOUAKCHOTT - Mauritania's military junta on Thursday appointed its ambassador to the European Union, Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf, as prime minister, the official Mauritanian news agency AMI said.
The new prime minister has been charged with forming a transitional government, junta sources said. Ould Mohamed Laghdaf has been Mauritania's ambassador to the EU and Belgium since 2005.
General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who ousted the country's first democratically elected president in a military coup on August 6, started consulting political parties this week to form a transitional government ahead of promised elections.
Ould Mohamed Laghdaf trained as an engineer and is considered a longtime ally of Mauritania's junta leader Ould Abdel Aziz. His close relationship with the general meant that his name had been widely circulated as a possible candidate for prime minister.
He is a member of the very important Tajakant tribe and hails from the southwestern region of Hodh Chargui, which is considered very important electorally.
Observers say the former ambassador, who has good contacts with many European diplomats, may have been appointed in a bid to stave off international condemnation of the coup.
General Ould Abdel Aziz led a group of generals in a military coup to oust president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi after he tried to sack the army's top brass.
The international community has unanimously condemned the coup and on Wednesday the European Union warned that Mauritania faced isolation.
The EU's French presidency said the bloc wanted a return to the pre-coup situation and the old government restored.
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