Cheikh El Avia Ould Mohamed Khouna ( ar, شيخ العافية ولد محمد خونة; born 1956
) 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 ...
n political figure. He was the 7th
Prime Minister of Mauritania
This is a list of prime ministers of Mauritania since the formation of the post of Prime Minister of Mauritania in 1960 to the present day.
A total of sixteen people have served as Prime Minister of Mauritania (not counting one Acting Prime ...
from January 2, 1996, to December 18, 1997, Minister of Foreign Affairs from July 12, 1998, to November 16, 1998, and Prime Minister again from November 16, 1998, to July 6, 2003, under
President
President most commonly refers to:
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*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
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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 ...
; later, he briefly served as Minister of Foreign Affairs again in 2008.
Biography
Khouna was born in 1956 in
Amourj in the eastern Mauritanian province of
Hodh Ech Chargui
Hodh Ech Chargui ( ar, ولاية الحوض الشرقي, "Eastern Basin Region") is a large region in eastern Mauritania, with an area of 182,700 km2. Its capital is Néma, but the largest town, in Bassiknou Department, is Fassala (or Vas ...
. He was educated in nearby
Néma
Néma is a town in southeastern Mauritania, close to the border with Mali. It is located at around at the eastern end of the Aoukar. It is the capital of Hodh Ech Chargui Region and of the Néma Department.
While the urban population of Nema ...
and at a lycee in
Nouakchott
, image_skyline = Nouakchott.jpg
, image_caption = City view of Nouakchott
, pushpin_map = Mauritania#Arab world#Africa
, pushpin_relief = 1
, mapsize =
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, graduating in 1978. He received an advanced degree in agricultural science in
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
, where he lived from 1978 to 1982. Khouna returned to Mauritania and joined the civil service, serving as director of the fisheries company Societe Mauritanienne de Commercialisation du Popsson (SMCP) from 1984 to 1992.
[Pazzanita 2008, p. 109.] He was Director of the Algerian-Mauritanian Fishing Company from 1992 to 1993, then became Secretary-General of the Mauritanian Ministry of Fishing in 1994.
[ He was subsequently appointed to the government as Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Economy on February 21, 1995. On January 2, 1996, Khona became Prime Minister, replacing ]Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar
Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar ( ar, سيدي محمد ولد بوبكر; born 31 May 1957)
Agence Mauritanienne d'Informa ...
. In a surprise decision shortly after the reelection of the President, he stepped down as premier in December 1997 in favor of law professor Mohamed Lemine Ould Guig
Mohamed Lemine Ould Guig ( ar, محمد الأمين ولد جيج; born July 1, 1959) is a Mauritanian academic and political figure. He was the 8th Prime Minister of Mauritania from December 18, 1997 to November 16, 1998 (11 months). Guig was the ...
and became Minister Secretary-General of the Presidency. Between July 12 and November 16, 1998, Khouna served as Minister of Foreign Affairs during a period of instability in the cabinet.[
After leaving the Foreign Ministry, he was reappointed to the premiership under President ]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 ...
. Khouna helped to come up with and carry out the policies of the President and attended many important conferences in place of Taya. In the summer on 1999, Khouna suffered a foreign policy setback when he could not secure an audience with Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Abdelaziz Bouteflika (; ar, عبد العزيز بوتفليقة, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Būtaflīqa ; 2 March 1937 – 17 September 2021) was an Algerian politician and diplomat who served as President of Algeria from 1999 to his resignation in 2019 ...
due to Mauritania's establishing full ties with Israel. Relations between the two countries deteriorated dramatically despite having a good relationship for two decades prior. Khouna denounced the opposition party, Action pour le Changement, in an important speech at the National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
in December 2001. The group was outlawed two weeks later.[ A member of the ]Republican Party for Democracy and Renewal
The Democratic Republican Party for Renewal (french: Parti Républicain Démocratique pour le Renouvellement - PRDR) is a political party in Mauritania. Formerly known as the Democratic and Social Republican Party, (french: Parti Républicain D ...
, some of his aims were to address environmental issues.
In late December 2002, he announced that the government had responded "rapidly, efficiently and responsibly" to a potential famine and helped livestock farmers. He attacked the rise of Islamic extremism
Islamic extremism, Islamist extremism, or radical Islam, is used in reference to extremist beliefs and behaviors which are associated with the Islamic religion. These are controversial terms with varying definitions, ranging from academic unde ...
and the potential of youth recruitment to their cause in a May 2003 speech. Khouna began to become critical of some of the actions of the President. In the unsuccessful coup of June 9, 2003, he was detained on suspicion of having sympathies with the plotters of the coup and attempting to seek asylum in Spain. On July 6, Khouna was replaced as premier by Sghair Ould M'Bareck, who previously served as minister of education. Khouna would not serve in any cabinet position until 2008.[Pazzanita 2008, p. 110.]
In the government of Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef
Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef ( ar, يحيى ولد أحمد الواقف; born 1960
as Prime Minister, Agence Mauritanienne d'Inform ...
, named on May 11, 2008, Khouna was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs. The inclusion of Khouna and others who had served under Taya in Waghef's government was controversial, however. This government survived for only two months, and Khouna was not included in the next government, appointed on July 15, 2008. In any case, the coup of August 6, 2008 led to the toppling of President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi
Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi ( ar, سيدي محمد ولد الشيخ عبد الله; 193822 November 2020) was a Mauritanian politician who was President of Mauritania from 2007 to 2008. He served in the government during the 1970s ...
and his government.[
On May 21, 2011, he was named ambassador to Tunisia.]
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Khouna, Cheikh El Avia Ould Mohamed
1956 births
Living people
People from Hodh Ech Chargui Region
Prime Ministers of Mauritania
Foreign ministers of Mauritania
Ambassadors of Mauritania
Ambassadors to Tunisia