The Military Committee for National Salvation ( ar, المجلس العسكري للخلاص الوطني; french: Comité Militaire de Salut National, CMSN) was a military

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

that took power in the 1979 coup d'état. It was installed by

Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla Ret. Col. Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah ( ar, محمد خونا ولد هيداله ''Muḥammad Khouna Wald Haidallah'') (born 1940) was the head of state of Mauritania (Chairman of the Military Committee for National Salvation, CMSN) from 4 Janu ...

Ahmed Ould Bouceif Lt. Col. Ahmed Ould Bouceif ( ar, أحمد ولد بوسيف, 1934 – 27 May 1979) was a Mauritanian military and political leader. In April 1979, he seized power in a coup d'état together with Col. Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah and other off ...

and fellow officers, in an internal regime/military coup on April 6,

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, removing

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Mustafa Ould Salek of the

Military Committee for National Recovery The Military Committee for National Recovery ( ar, المجلس العسكري للإنعاش الوطني; french: Comité Militaire de Redressement National, CMRN) was a short-lived military government of Mauritania after the coup d'état that re ...

(CRMN) from effective power. He was replaced by

Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Louly Lt. Col. Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Louly ( ar, محمد محمود ولد أحمد لولي‎; 1 January 1943 – 16 March 2019) was the President of Mauritania and Chairman of the Military Committee for National Salvation The Military Committee f ...

in June

. Haidalla would later emerge as the main military strongman, and go on to assume full powers in the 1980 coup d'état, only to be deposed by

Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya ( ar, معاوية ولد سيد أحمد الطايع, Ma‘āwiyah wuld Sīdi Aḥmad aṭ-Ṭāya‘ / Mu'awiya walad Sayyidi Ahmad Taya; born 28 November 1941) is a Mauritanian military officer who served as the P ...

in the 1984 coup d'état. The CMSN remained as an institution until

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, when Ould Taya introduced a democratic multi-party system following the 1991 constitutional referendum – he himself lost power only in the 2005 coup d'état. The main achievement of the CMSN was to make peace with the

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...

n Polisario Front, which had been fighting Mauritania since the government of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Moktar Ould Daddah Moktar Ould Daddah ( ar, مختار ولد داداه, Mukhtār Wald Dāddāh; December 25, 1924 – October 14, 2003) was a Mauritanian politician who led the country after it gained its independence from France. Daddah served as the country's ...

entered the Western Sahara War in 1975. The CMSN opted for complete withdrawal from the conflict, evacuating southern Río de Oro (which had been

annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

Tiris al-Gharbiyya Tiris al-Gharbiyya ( ar, تيرس الغربية, links=, lit=Western Tiris, translit=Tīris al-Ġarbiyya) was the name for the area of Western Sahara under Mauritanian control between 1975 and 1979. Background Mauritania annexed the southern ...

) and recognizing the Polisario as the representative of the

Sahrawi people The Sahrawi, or Saharawi people ( ar, صحراويون '; es, Saharaui), are an ethnic group and nation native to the western part of the Sahara desert, which includes the Western Sahara, southern Morocco, much of Mauritania, and along the s ...

; this led to a crisis in relations with Morocco, which had similarly annexed the northern two-thirds of the country, and was also facing Sahrawi resistance.

References

History of Mauritania Politics of Mauritania Government of Mauritania

{{Mauritania-hist-stub

See also

References