Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz (محمد ولد عبد العزيز; born 20 December 1956) is a former Mauritanian politician who was the 8th president of Mauritania from 2009 to 2019.

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was born in Akjoujt on 20 December 1956.

He joined the Meknes Royal Military Academy in Morocco in 1977, and, after a string of promotions, established the elite BASEP (Presidential Security Battalion).

A Saudi-based newspaper claimed that the General was motivated by a combination of disgust at the corruption of those close to Abdallahi, but also over legal threats against Abdel Aziz and others by the president regarding the behavior of the Mauritanian military during the mass expulsion of black Africans in 1989.

Abdel Aziz's initial list of names for the High Council of State included five civilians, released on 7 August along with a statement that former government ministers could retain their jobs.

By the end of the same day, this list had been revised, without public explanation, to include all military figures.

Two small demonstrations were held on the day following the coup: one opposing the seizure of power, which was dispersed by the police with tear gas, and one march supporting the military, at which Abdel Aziz spoke.

He played a key role in suppressing an attempted coup in June 2003 and a military uprising in August 2004.

He received Mauritania's highest military award for his role in stopping the 2004 uprising.

A career soldier and high-ranking officer, he was a leading figure in the August 2005 coup that ousted President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, and later in August 2008, he led another coup, that removed President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.

A military coup on 3 August 2005, led by Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, Director-General of the Sûreté Nationale, and Colonel Abdel Aziz, who was commander of the Presidential Guard (BASEP), overthrew President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya.

Colonel Abdel Aziz was one of the main actors in the actual carrying out of this coup.

At the time, Abdel Aziz was described by a Western academic as a leader of a Mauritanian Nasserist group, pan-Arab secular nationalists.

Western sources, citing Abdel Aziz's background in coming from a traditionally favored Oulad Bou Sbaa Chorfa clan group, questioned the general's commitment to democracy and reversing the history of ethnic and class inequities in the nation.

Contrary to this, the Mauritanian press credited Abdel Aziz for pushing to reduce military rule from 24 to 19 months and for attempting to limit voter fraud in the coming election.

On 30 August 2007, President Abdallahi named Abdel Aziz his Presidential Chief of Staff (Chef d'Etat-major particulier du Président de la République).

General Abdel Aziz was also commander of the forces sent to apprehend Group for Preaching and Combat militants who had killed four French tourists at Aleg in December 2007.

After the 2008 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.

Abdel Aziz, now a General, continued to work closely with the President: at the end of February 2008 he served as a personal envoy of the President to King Mohammed VI of Morocco.

A May 2008 article contrasted Abdel Aziz's continuing involvement at the centre of political power with Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, who had left public life.

Abdel Aziz remained both advisor to the President and General, and was described as being at the nexus of "a small galaxy of other colonels, businessmen and politicians, in an uneasy balance."

A conflict with the President was clearly growing in June 2008.

At the end of June, the left-wing UFP party reported that they believed Abdel Aziz and Ghazouani were planning for a coup, but were attempting a strategy of political change by hiving "independent" parliamentarians off from the government, which would replace the President peacefully.

A mass defection in the ranks of the ruling PNDD-ADIL party on 4 August 2008 (two days before the coup) with 25 Parliamentary deputies and 23 senators was reported to have been inspired by military leaders, and would have left the president unable to govern.

On 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 Felix Negri, 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 Arabia-based al-Arabiya television played an announcement said to be from the new junta.

According to an official statement released on 7 August 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".

Public reaction to the 2008 coup by western governments in the days after 6 August were hostile, with particularly harsh condemnation coming from former colonial power and past economic supporter France.

In the two weeks following the coup, Abdel Aziz met with a number of foreign delegations, made personal phone calls to foreign leaders, and gave a number of press interviews to the international media.

In these he stated that his actions were legal, a response to "anti-constitutional" oppression by the previous government, and that although "forced to take power" he had no desire for power.

He did not rule out running in the promised elections, however.

He resigned from that post in April 2009 in order to stand as a candidate in the July 2009 presidential election, which he won.

He took office in August 2009.

He was subsequently re-elected in 2014, then did not seek re-election in 2019.

Abdel Aziz also held the role of chairman of the African Union from 2014 to 2015.

In June 2021, Abdel Aziz was detained on charges of corruption.

He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in December 2023.

He was succeeded by Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, who assumed office in August 2019.