June 15, 2003 - Modesto Bee: A Volunteer reports on the coup attempt in Mauritania

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Headlines: Peace Corps Headlines - 2003: June 2003 Peace Corps Headlines: June 15, 2003 - Modesto Bee: A Volunteer reports on the coup attempt in Mauritania

By Admin1 (admin) on Sunday, June 15, 2003 - 12:40 pm: Edit Post

A Volunteer reports on the coup attempt in Mauritania





Caption: Aborted coup : A woman passes the burnt out remains of a tank that had been part of the abortive coup in Nouakchott, Mauritania.


Read and comment on this story from the Modesto Bee on this report from PCV Kristen Weaver on the situation in Mauritania after the coup attempt last week. After the fighting started, Peace Corps sent over an armored car to pick her up:
On our way to the bureau, the driver, Omar, pointed out the areas of contention and where the battle lines had been drawn -- much closer to my house than I had thought! The rebels had managed to shut down the radio and TV stations and the airport. The streets were empty, except for a few curious residents looking out from the entryways to their homes. When we arrived at the Peace Corps bureau, we were told the bureau would be our home until further notice. We helped ourselves to U.S. military meals ready to eat and watched films on one of the bureau's laptop computers in the country director's office. Her office is equipped with steel doors and heavy-duty deadbolt locks. Thank goodness we have yet to test them!
Congratulations to the Peace Corps for handling the situation in Mauritania so well. Read the story at:

Modestan witnesses coup attempt*

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.



Modestan witnesses coup attempt

By KRISTEN WEAVER
Published: June 15, 2003, 08:25:08 AM PDT

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania -- I woke up around 2 a.m. on June 8 to unfamiliar sounds of "rat-tat-tat-tat" and "brrrt-brrrt- brrrt," accompanied by an occasional "kaboom!" in my neighborhood.

I called my Algerian friend, Adel, to ask about the ruckus. He said that from the noises and from his experience, it was probably a coup.

In disbelief, at 2:20 a.m., I called my friend Robbie, who works at the U.S. Embassy. His suspicions were the same. Fire was coming from near the presidential palace. The noises were ammunition and bombs fired from tanks. The planes flying overhead certainly didn't belong to Air France or Tunis Air.

Adel called at 3:45 a.m. after he and his friends Hassan and Cheikhna had gone to check out what was going on in the city. They forgot about a military post on one of the roads they took, and bullets had grazed their truck. Adel turned on the interior light and everyone put up his hands. The soldiers laughed, shook their heads, and told them to leave the area. Adel said that his years in Algeria had taught him well.

Adel and Hassan didn't seem too worried about what was going on. They said in a coup, neither side wants to harm civilians, as they need to gain their confidence and support. An angry mob could oust the coup plotters if they're not happy about the takeover.

I did my best to sleep through the gunfire in the distance. It stopped about 4 a.m., but resumed around 6 a.m. In between, I'd received calls from Peace Corps staff telling me to stay inside.

Adel called to say that the fighting was between the ruling Moor population and a disgruntled faction of Moors embracing a more political form of Islam. This group wasn't happy about the president's decision to arrest some imams who had been talking politics in the mosques since the war in Iraq broke out and the problems between Palestine and Israel heightened.

A Peace Corps consolidation or evacuation of Nouakchott volunteers seemed likely. At 11:45, I tried to pack. The crutches impeded my pace, but it's amazing what nearby bomb blasts will do to get the adrenaline flowing. (Weaver was on crutches because her ankle had been injured earlier.)

The Peace Corps called to say it would be sending an armored car over in the next half hour to get me. I called Adel to help me pack and gave him a set of my house keys and some money for the rent I had yet to pay in case I wasn't coming back.

I realized as I packed that I could abandon a lot more than I once thought. There was nothing (except maybe my passport) that I could not bear to leave behind. In a seemingly life-or-death situation, it's people and getting out alive that matter most.

At 2:15 p.m., just as the echoes of the blasts reverberated in my ears and shook my house walls beyond comprehension, my doorbell rang. The "armored car" was instead a Mercedes 560 SEL. The driver was a White Moor man, speaking perfect English, whom I'd never met. The only reason I knew that was my ride was that Rhonda, a volunteer living in a nearby neighborhood, was in the back seat, and Cheikh, our Peace Corps man-with-all-answers, greeted me at the door. Once on our way, I said this was the first armored Mercedes I'd ever been in. The driver, who was Cheikh's brother-in-law, laughed.

On our way to the bureau, the driver, Omar, pointed out the areas of contention and where the battle lines had been drawn -- much closer to my house than I had thought! The rebels had managed to shut down the radio and TV stations and the airport. The streets were empty, except for a few curious residents looking out from the entryways to their homes.

When we arrived at the Peace Corps bureau, we were told the bureau would be our home until further notice. We helped ourselves to U.S. military meals ready to eat and watched films on one of the bureau's laptop computers in the country director's office. Her office is equipped with steel doors and heavy-duty deadbolt locks. Thank goodness we have yet to test them!

Around 6 a.m., artillery fire briefly resumed.

Sometime on Monday afternoon, we heard cheering. Horns were being honked as cars drove by. We went outside. Vehicles packed the street. Mauritanian women stood in their vehicles, their mulafas being blown off by the wind. Men in flatbed trucks stood and cheered, waving pictures of President Maaouya Sid'Ahmed Ould Taya. I even saw a few military trucks carrying fully armed soldiers who were also participating in the festivities. We decided to go inside, fearing that they might fire their guns in celebration and accidentally hit someone.

Later that day, Kateri, our country director, briefed us on the latest-known "facts." The tank division of the military in the "Arafat" section of town had sided with the Baathists and the Islamicists who were upset at the president for having imprisoned politically impassioned imams. Some Mauritanian tribes from the east who are not happy with Ould Taya's rule also inspired this coup.

Once Ould Taya's reinforcements arrived, snuffing out the rebels, "peace," as shaky as it may be, was restored. Ould Taya had made a nationally televised speech reassuring the nation that his government was still in power, leading to the celebration on the streets of Nouakchott. According to U.S. Embassy sources, approximately 100 people were killed (though CNN was reporting 80), with few civilian casualties.

The embassy told all Americans in Nouakchott to stay home until further notice. Until then, we shall remain at the Peace Corps Bureau. Thank goodness for those MREs, electricity and DVDs!

Wednesday

Having been holed up at the bureau for three days, I was hoping to be able to sleep in my own bed soon. To my dismay, we have been told to expect to stay at Hotel Corps de la Paix for a little longer. Three thousand prisoners were released during the attempted coup and have yet to be recaptured. If they couldn't bribe their way out of jail, you know they've done something really terrible!

A young Pulaar woman said that many of her family and friends were disappointed that the coup didn't take hold. She told them the religion the rebels practice isn't the real Islam, and although her friends may not like the current regime, they sure wouldn't want what the rebels would consider "Islamic." She thinks Mauritania will make more of an effort to keep its own more-liberal forms of Islam intact.

I sneaked away with some other volunteers to get a glimpse of the fête on wheels in the streets. White Moors, Pulaars, Soninkes and Wolofs alike were cheering and honking their horns. Ould Taya posters were plastered on car windows. Those who didn't have cars marched alongside the traffic jam leading to the Palais du Congres. I sneaked photographs whenever possible. The moment was too incredible to miss. The cruising continued most of the day. I was surprised that the city's gas stations still had fuel left to sell by the time the sun went down!

My friend Ismail called to see how I was doing. I was more interested to hear how he, a relative of the president, was feeling. He said that he, his wife, and the rest of his family had had to hide with nothing to eat. They lived on milk and water while praying Ould Taya would prevail.

If Ould Taya had not defeated the rebels, he and his family would have had to leave the country. But now, the subtle familial-connection corruption and outright bribery can continue with bank accounts intact and the books accounted for. Ah, Mauritania!

Friday

We were let out of the Peace Corps compound Wednesday. Our country director made us promise, if she let us go, we would not go out at night. All the criminals have not been caught yet.

The main difference in my post-attempted-coup self is that I jump at any louder-than-normal sound. Other than that, things are pretty "normal." Except for the extra-vigilant police checkpoints, people are acting almost as if nothing happened.

All opinions are Kristen Weaver's alone and do not reflect the opinions of the Peace Corps, the U.S. government or the government of Mauritania.

Weaver, a 1993 graduate of Downey High School, has been serving a 27-month stint with the Peace Corps in Mauritania since June 2002. This article consists of excerpts from three e-mails she wrote.


The story we filed on June 10 as the coup began: US troops sent to Mauritania to evacuate US Nationals if necessary





Caption: Aborted coup : A woman passes the burnt out remains of a tank that had been part of the abortive coup in Nouakchott, Mauritania.

Read and comment on this story from The Courier News that the United States has sent 69 troops and an unspecified number of aircraft to boost embassy security in Mauritania where a coup attempt had just taken place and prepare for a possible evacuation of US nationals. There are about 200-300 US nationals in Mauritania, including about 71 Peace Corps volunteers. Read the story at:

US troops to Mauritania, Liberia*

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.



US troops to Mauritania, Liberia

10jun03

THE United States has sent 69 troops and an unspecified number of aircraft to boost embassy security in Mauritania and Liberia and prepare for a possible evacuation of US nationals, President George W Bush said.

In a letter to congressional leaders, Bush said 35 US military personnel were in Liberia, where rebel forces opposed to the government of President Charles Taylor were in the vicinity of the US Embassy in Monrovia.

In addition, an evacuation force of 34 US troops were on the way to Nouakchott, Mauritania, where a coup attempt had just taken place. The troops were expected to arrive tomorrow.

Several aircraft had been ordered to Dakar to aid in any evacuation in either country.

"Although in both cases the US forces are equipped for combat, these movements were undertaken solely for the purpose of protecting American citizens and property," Bush said in the letter.

"United States forces will redeploy as soon as it is determined that the threats to the embassy compounds have ended or an evacuation, if necessary, is completed."

Meanwhile, the State Department warned its nationals to review travel plans to Mauritania due to political instability there.

"The Department of State alerts US citizens to the fluid and uncertain security situation in Mauritania following an attack against the government," a department spokesman said.

About 200-300 US nationals are in Mauritania, including about 71 Peace Corps volunteers.

Earlier, the department had urged US citizens to leave Liberia immediately.

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