Go north, Ould Taya!

Domestic concerns take second place as a confident President redraws diplomatic policy

Colonel Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya's increasingly assertive foreign policy, based on closer ties to the West - notably the United States and its key ally Israel - and to Maghreb neighbours, shows a ruler who feels comfortable at home (AC Vol 35 No 19) in the face of considerable potential opposition. His taste for taking diplomatic risks was underlined by Nouakchott's determination to maintain ties with Israel; along with Egypt and Jordan, it is now the only member of the League of Arab States to take such a position since the current Palestinian intifada (uprising) began. In a total about-turn from the years when Baathist and Nasserite tendencies vied for influence, Taya has shrugged off protests from leading domestic critics such as Ahmed Ould Daddah and the disquiet of most Mauritanians over this issue. Protests have been violently suppressed.

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Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, United States, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Ahmed Ould Daddah, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Madienya Diouf, Abdoulaye Wade, French, Mali, Head in the homesand, Dah Ould Abdi, Sidi el Mokhtar Ould Nagi, Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar, Mahfoudh Ould Mohamed Ali, Kamara Ali Gueladio, Kane Moustapha, Deddoud Ould Abdellahi, Biodiel Ould Houmeid, Moktar Ould Daddah, Moammar el Gadaffi, Burkinabè, Dah Ould Abdeljellil, Ely Ould Dah, Georges Gineste, Lionel Jospin, Cheikh el Avia Ould Mohamed Khouna, Cameroon, Sidney Sokhona, Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, Pierre Falcone, Angola, Swiss, Mohammed Abdelaziz, Hassan, Mohammed, Jacques Chirac, Canada, Australian, Ishagh Ould Rajel, South Africa, Mohamed Lemine Ch'Bih Ould Cheikh Malainine, Union du Maghreb Arabe, Eid el Fitr, Comité Inter-Etats de Lutte contre la Sécheresse au Sahel, Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Sénégal, Rencontre Africaine des Droits de l'Homme, Forces de Libération Africaine de Mauritanie, Parti Républicain Démocratique et Social, Al Alam, Al Alam, Union des Forces Démocratiques/Ere Nouvelle, Reporters sans Frontières, Parti Socialiste, rapprochement, Papa-m'a-dit, Iwik Investissement, Le Figaro, Iwik, passim, Reguibat, Sécurité Militaire, Reguibat, rapprochement, Maroc-Télécom, Maroc-Télécom, Mauritel, Mauritel, France-Télécom, Mattel, Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière, Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, Africa Confidential, Front Populaire, Front des Partis de l'Opposition

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