Mauritanian president replaces pro-Algeria generals

In a major army leadership reshuffle, Mauritania’s president Mohammed Ould Ghazouani removed generals who had recently met Algeria’s chief of staff.

Mauritanian observers said the move was a pre-emptive strike from President Ould Ghazouani, sensing a potential Algeria-orchestrated coup.

Under the reshuffle, General Mohamed Vall Ould Raïs was appointed new Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces.

The move was also seen as conducive to strengthening Mauritania’s defense leadership following incursions by the Algerian army into the Mauritanian territory.

Like its Sahel neighbors, Mauritania has for decades combatted terrorist groups sprouting from the Algerian civil war. It has also been victim of attacks by the Algeria-based Polisario separatists, notably in the 1970s.

Algeria has in recent months pressured Mauritanian to adopt pro-Polisario positions, but to no avail.

Algeria has been pressuring Mauritania to block Moroccan initiatives, notably the gas pipeline with Nigeria and the Atlantic initiative to offer landlocked Sahel states access to the Atlantic.

After a visit this month in Rabat, Mauritania’s president fully backed the two regional integration initiatives, a royal palace statement said.

Worth mentioning that Mauritania refused to join an Algerian attempt to create a new Maghreb Union, which was joined by Algerian proxy president Kais Saied of Tunisia and a fraction of Tripoli represented by Mohamed Younes el-Menfi whose legitimacy is often questioned.