Mauritanian capital returns to normal after coup attempt

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania -- Soldiers toting machine guns patrolled the streets of this desert capital Tuesday after the pro-Western president of the Arab-dominated nation said he had crushed a coup attempt by disgruntled military officers.

Residents of Nouakchott emerged from their homes to find charred tanks abandoned on streets and buildings scored with bullet and rocket impacts. Banks and stores reopened, and buses and taxis circulated.

The coup attempt was the most serious threat to President Maaouya Sid'Ahmed Ould Taya since he came to power in his own military takeover, a bloodless 1984 coup. Elections since then in this Sahara nation of 2.5 million people -- one of the world's 30 poorest countries -- have been widely viewed as flawed.

Hearing sounds of guns

For two days, residents had cowered in their homes as battles raged in the city's sandy, sun-blasted streets. Fighting subsided Monday afternoon, and Ould Taya went on national television to declare the power grab had been thwarted.

"This is the first time that we lived a war," said one man in his 50s, who asked not to be named. "I live close to the presidential palace, and I could hear the sound of guns."

Two scorched tanks stood Tuesday in front of state radio headquarters, near the palace. Government workers towed other tanks away, still intact. The international airport was closed, with tanks and rocket launchers on the tarmac.

Military officials say the city's armored division was involved in the coup attempt. One military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, blamed a cabal led by former and current mid-ranking Army officers.

Twelve coup plotters have been arrested, the official said, including two majors he identified as the ringleaders: Mohamed Ould Hanana, who was dismissed from the military two years earlier; and Mohamed Ould Sheikna, a current officer who was lightly injured during the fighting. Authorities were seeking others.

No casualty tolls have been announced, but the city's main hospital said it received the bodies of at least three soldiers and treated 16 others for gunshot wounds on Sunday. Many civilians were also wounded.

Army chief of staff Mohammed Lamine Ould N'Deyane was killed by coup forces when he refused to join their ranks, the military official said.

Travel advisory

In Washington, the State Department on Tuesday advised U.S. citizens to reconsider any plans to travel to Mauritania and said Americans already in the country should be cautious and stay close to home.

The uprising followed a crackdown on Islamic activists. Ould Taya's pro-West government has a reputation of muzzling dissent, by censoring the media or by arresting opposition leaders.

Mauritania's government moved against Islamic activists after the U.S.-led Iraq war, initially to try to prevent any shows of support for Saddam Hussein.

Dozens of Islamic leaders were arrested last month for allegedly using mosques to recruit fighters. At least 32 were freed Sunday when rebel soldiers released prisoners from two jails, opposition officials said.

Mauritania's Arab-led government has tried to balance a strongly Islamic nation with a pro-Western foreign policy.

After a falling out with Saddam, Ould Taya traded an alliance with Iraq for improved relations with Israel. Mauritania is one of three Arab nations that has diplomatic relations with Israel.