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The government of Mauritania was overthrown by an Army coup today.
Army officers announced a new junta was in control of the west African nation which will be led by the head of the presidential guard.
The coup took place after the president and prime minister fired the country’s top four military officials.
A brief announcement read over state television said the new “state council” will be led by presidential guard chief general Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. It gave no other details.
President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was being held by rebel soldiers at the presidential palace in Nouakchott, according to a presidential spokesman. Soldiers also detained Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waqef.
State radio and television went off air and witnesses said soldiers were deployed throughout the capital.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today called for the immediate restoration of order. "The Secretary General calls for respect for the rule of law and the immediate restoration of constitutional order in the country," a UN spokeswoman said.
