Mauritanian President refuses to leave amid protests

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz Nouakchott -  Mohammad Sharif Abeidy Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz said Monday he will not resign, despite weeks of protests by the opposition who accuse him of despotism and mismanagement. "I have no intention of leaving power because I think that in a democracy, change must be done through the ballot box," Abdel Aziz said at a forum in the northern town of Atar celebrating the third anniversary of his inauguration.
A group of people chanted slogans against the President asking him to step down during the meeting. Youth activists raised banners with slogans "Go Aziz", "You must leave". They were then taken away by security officials.
Abdel Aziz, claimed that 70 percent of his electoral programme had been achieved and that there was an increase in development rates along with a marked improvement in the lives of citizens. "The reserves of hard currency is enough for the next six months, amounting to $717 million in the current year, compared to $ 450 million in 1992."
The president said there was no political crisis in the country, saying those calling for his departure should have demanded it since 2005 when they were a part of "that corrupt regime which has squandered the resources of the country".
He also said he had succeeded in enacting 13 laws, giving an electoral list for women and increasing the number of MPs. He said that issue of detained human right activists who were arrested after they publicly burned the Wu'ran, was now up to the court.
The President also discussed the war with al-Qaeda, saying: "Mauritania is not fighting the organisation, but  is fighting the armed gangs that have killed Mauritanian soldiers in Mgheita on the Mauritanian coast...if the US is at war with al-Qaeda, it is the US's problem, not Mauritania’s."
Abdel Aziz said he communicated to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) that Mauritania would not refrain from repulsing armed Islamist groups if they threatened them on their borders with Mali.
On Saturday a 10-party opposition bloc signed a charter rejecting any solution to the country's political crisis that does not involve the president's resignation.
The Coordination of Democratic Opposition (COD), which has held weekly protests and sit-ins since May, also refused to take part in any election in which "transparency is not guaranteed."
Legislative and municipal elections planned for 2011 were postponed and are meant to take place at the end of 2012.
The opposition accuses the former general of having failed to respect commitments made in the Dakar accords that led to his election in 2009, a year after he seized power in a coup d'etat.
"It is not the words 'get out' written on a banner or a protest in the street which will make someone leave. I was democratically elected with more than 52 percent," Abdel Aziz said.
The president's mandate expires in 2014.