His is one of several recent deaths among retired West African leaders linked – in starkly contrasting ways – to the region's bumpy democratic history: other departures have included the Malian dictator Moussa Traoré and the man who deposed him  Amadou Toumani Touré  and Mauritania's first democratic president  Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
            Vol 55 No 13 | 
            - MAURITANIA
	     Abdel Aziz seized power from President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi in 2008 and he has been consolidating his civilian credentials ever since  including in an election the following year (AC Vol 49 No 17  Quiet coup)...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     Having seized power in August 2008  deposing elected civilian President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi  he stood for election in July 2009 and is clearly aiming for the long haul (AC Vol 49 No 17)...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
            Vol 50 No 1 | 
            - NORTH AFRICA
	      MAURITANIA: Junta asks for time The ousting of civilian President Sidi Mohammed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi in a dawn putsch last August has prompted African  European and American sanctions against the new junta...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	    The ousting of civilian President Sidi Mohammed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi in a dawn putsch last August has prompted African  European and American sanctions against the new junta...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
            Vol 49 No 17 | 
            - MAURITANIA
	     With little fuss and no shooting  on 6 August General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz took power in Nouakchott  overthrowing the elected President regarded as his protégé  Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi (AC Vol 48 No 10)...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
            Vol 49 No 1 | 
            - NORTH AFRICA
	        MAURITANIA: President Sidi Mohammed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi’s new government (AC Vol 48 No 10) is strapped for funds and under pressure to deliver basic services  even though Prime Minister Zeine Ould Zeidane got a better than expected response from donors in Paris in December...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
            Vol 48 No 10 | 
            - MAURITANIA
	    Hopes are high that the 19 April inauguration of Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi as Mauritania's first democratically elected President since Independence in 1960 will prove a break with the past...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	    Independent candidate Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi squeaked to victory in Mauritania's 25 March presidential elections...