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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NOUAKCHOTT 000707 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPAO PTER MR
SUBJECT: GENERAL AZIZ ADDRESSES THE NATION, PRESIDENT 
ABDALLAHI MUZZLED ON MAURITANIAN NATIONAL DAY 
 
REF: NOUAKCHOTT 696 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Dennis Hankins for reasons 1.4 (b) and 
 (d). 
 
¶1. (C)  Summary: General Aziz made a televised speech to the 
nation on Mauritanian National Day (November 28), but he 
offered no new proposals or changes in the High State 
Council's policy.  Meanwhile, President Abdallahi was 
reportedly forbidden from meeting with journalists in his 
native village of Lemden.  This prevented him from making a 
planned address to the nation on the Mauritanian holiday, 
demonstrating the HSC's unwillingness to share the limelight 
with Abdallahi.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U)  General Aziz, President of the High State Council 
(military junta) delivered a long-winded televised speech to 
the nation on the occasion of Mauritania's 48th anniversary 
of independence (November 28).  Aziz touched on practically 
every issue facing Mauritania, from poverty, drug 
trafficking, and illegal immigration to corruption, health 
care, and education.  Aziz focused particularly on fighting 
corruption and the drug trade, stating that "the High State 
Council is committed to eradicating the usage and trafficking 
of drugs."  As for terrorism, Aziz pledged to eliminate its 
societal root causes (without stating what those root causes 
were), and to reorganize the armed forces and security 
services to confront the threat.  He further stated that the 
recently-created special anti-terror units would be backed up 
by an "aerial deterrent" (again, no details provided).  Aziz 
closed his speech by justifying the coup, saying that it was 
necessary to "save the country from the dangers it faced." 
Claiming that government institutions continued to function 
democratically, he called on all Mauritanians to participate 
in the upcoming consultation days in order to determine the 
length of the democratic transition period and to set the 
conditions for organizing "a transparent and democratic 
presidential election." 
 
¶3. (C)  Acting DCM attended the flag ceremony held at the 
Presidential Palace on Mauritanian National Day.  The 
ceremony was a tightly-controlled and highly-scripted event. 
In contrast to previous years, this year the 
head-of-state-handshaking with the diplomatic corps and the 
presentation of medals to various Mauritanian figures was 
completed before the flag was raised. Comment:  It is likely 
the High State Council inverted the traditional order of the 
flag ceremony to prevent the diplomatic corps from 
potentially bolting as soon as the flag was raised, thereby 
snubbing General Aziz.  End comment.  The French, Spanish, 
and German ambassadors attended the ceremony, as did Defense 
Attaches from several Western countries.  Note: The US DATT 
did not attend. End note. 
 
¶4. (U)  Multiple local media reports state that President 
Abdallahi, still under house arrest in his native village of 
Lemden, was unable to receive journalists over the weekend, 
with large teams of security forces deployed in the village. 
Abdallahi was supposed to have delivered an address to the 
nation on Mauritanian National Day.  The security forces 
reportedly left the village just before an envoy of President 
Sarkozy arrived to discuss the current situation in the 
country with Abdallahi. 
 
¶5. (C)  Comment:  Despite the junta's claims that Abdallahi 
is free, this latest episode in Lemden demonstrates the 
limited nature of that "freedom."  It is clear that the HSC 
did not want a public address by Abdallahi to be aired the 
same day that Aziz delivered a speech to the nation.  Whether 
or not the HSC will permit Abdallahi to meet with journalists 
in the future remains to be seen.  In any event, as reported 
in Ref A, Abdallahi now appears to have less opportunity to 
communicate directly with the Mauritanian people. 
 
¶6. (C)  Aziz, who sat behind a desk reading his speech word 
for word, rarely looked up at the camera, and did not project 
a particularly inspiring or stirring image to the Mauritanian 
people.  (In fact, Aziz did not hold a single event with the 
people on Mauritanian National Day, in contrast to his 
 
NOUAKCHOTT 00000707  002 OF 002 
 
 
numerous visits to neighborhoods of Nouakchott and regional 
towns over the past few weeks.)  As for the content of the 
speech itself, it was long on lofty promises, and short on 
details.  Aziz did not offer any new proposals or plans for 
either the economic or political situation.  Like other 
speeches Aziz has made to the public, it rehashed the same 
points that have been heard many times before by the HSC in 
its campaign to heighten public awareness of the motives 
behind the "rectification movement."  End comment. 
 
HANKINS