Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla 2373074 222454238 2008-06-29T12:30:49Z 84.134.125.238 {{Infobox President | image = Replace this image male.svg <!-- only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people - see [[WP:NONFREE]] --> | | name=Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla<br>محمد خونا ولد هيداله | nationality= {{flagicon|Mauritania}} [[Mauritanian]] | order= Chairman of the [[Heads of state of Mauritania|Military Council for Justice and Democracy]] | term_start= [[4 January]], [[1980]] | term_end=[[12 December]], [[1984]] | predecessor= [[Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Louly]] | successor= [[Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya|Maaouya Ould Taya]] | birth_date= [[1940]] | birth_place= {{flagicon|Mauritania}} [[Nouakchott]], [[Mauritania]] | deatd=alive | spouse= | party= | religion= [[Sunni Islam]] | vicepresident= }} Ret. Col. '''Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah''' ({{lang-ar|محمد خونا ولد هيداله}}) (born [[1940]]) was the [[Heads of State of Mauritania|head of state]] of [[Mauritania]] (Chairman of the [[Military Committee for National Salvation]], CMSN) from [[4 January]], [[1980]] to [[12 December]], [[1984]]. He unsuccessfully [[Mauritanian presidential election, 2003|ran for president in 2003]] and [[Mauritanian presidential election, 2007|again in 2007]]. == Family background and early career == Born in 1940 in the [[Nouadhibou]] region (either in then-[[Spanish Sahara]]<ref name="LOC_Consolidation">[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query2/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+mr0038) "Mauritania: Consolidation of Power"], ''[[Library of Congress]] Country Studies''</ref> or colonial [[Mauritania]]<ref name="cridem">{{fr icon}} [http://www.cridem.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7462&mode=&order=0&thold=0 "Un ancien président mauritanien en lice pour la Présidentielle"], ''Convergence Républicaine pour l'Instauration de la Democratie en Mauritanie''</ref>) into a family of the [[Sahrawi]]/[[Moorish]] [[Laaroussien]] tribe, he passed to secondary education in [[Rosso]] near the border to [[France|French]]-administered [[Senegal]]. He earned a [[baccalaureat]] in [[science]] in [[Dakar]], Senegal, in 1961. After joining the Mauritanian army in 1962,<ref name="rulers">[http://www.rulers.org/indexh1.html Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah], Rulers.org</ref> he studied in French military colleges, notably [[Saint-Cyr]].<ref name="cridem"/> After 1975, he commanded forces in the north of Mauritania and [[Tiris al-Gharbiya]] ([[Western Sahara]]), in the war against [[Polisario Front]] [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]]s, notably in the [[Zouerate]] region and [[Bir Moghrein]].<ref name="rulers"/> In 1978, with the country in severe disorder, he participated in a [[coup d'état]] that overthrew Mauritanian [[President of Mauritania|President]] [[Mokhtar Ould Daddah]]. As a member of the [[CRMN]] military [[junta]], he was promoted to the post of Chief of the General Staff. == As head of CMSN == Haidallah became prime minister on [[31 May]], [[1979]], a few days after the death in an [[airplane]] crash of the previous prime minister, Col. [[Ahmed Ould Bouceif]], with whom he had seized power for the CMSN just a month earlier, from Col. [[Mustafa Ould Salek]] and the CRMN. In January 1980 he seized power from Ould Salek's successor as [[head of state]], [[Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Louly]]. He continued to also hold the position of [[Prime Minister of Mauritania|Prime Minister]] until December of that year, when a civilian, [[Sid Ahmed Ould Bneijara]], was appointed to the post.<ref name=Regime/> His reign was marked by severe political turbulence, as Mauritania extracted itself from the war with the [[Polisario Front]] — started by Ould Daddah in 1975 — and his regime faced a number of coup attempts and military intrigues.<ref name="Regime">[http://countrystudies.us/mauritania/22.htm "Mauritania: The Haidalla Regime"], ''[[Library of Congress]] Country Studies''</ref><ref name="NYT_1984-09-23>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9500E3DD143BF930A1575AC0A962948260 "Mauritanian Group Says It Killed Libyan in Rome"], ''[[New York Times]]'', [[September 23]], [[1984]].</ref> On [[March 16]], [[1981]] a coup attempt against Haidalla failed,<ref name="WP_1981-03-17>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/132087452.html?dids=132087452:132087452&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=MAR+17%2C+1981&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Mauritanian+Coup+Attempt+Fails+After+Bloody+Clashes&pqatl=google "Mauritanian Coup Attempt Fails After Bloody Clashes"], ''[[Washington Post]]'', [[March 17]], [[1981]].</ref>. Haidalla accused Morocco of being behind the coup, which Morocco denied, and in the next month [[Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya]] was appointed Prime Minister.<ref name=Regime/><ref name="NYT_1981-04-27">[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507E2DA1638F934A15757C0A967948260&n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fMauritania "Career Soldier Takes Over As Premier of Mauritania"], ''[[New York Times]]'', [[April 27]], [[1981]].</ref> Another attempted coup was allegedly sponsored by Libya.<ref name="LOC_Consolidation"/> In March 1984, Haidallah took the office of Prime Minister again, replacing Taya, in a move to strengthen his personal power.<ref name="Disintegration">[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query2/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+mr0039) "Mauritania: Political Disintegration"], ''[[Library of Congress]] Country Studies''</ref><ref name="Regime"/> On [[December 12]], however, Taya ousted Haidallah in a coup while the latter was out of the country. Haidalla had been at a [[Franco-African Summit]] in [[Burundi]]<ref name="NYT_1984-12-14">[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E07E0DF1338F937A25751C1A962948260&n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fMauritania "Mauritania's President Arrested by Coup Leader"], UPI, ''[[New York Times]]'', [[December 14]], [[1984]].</ref><ref name="APA_2007-03-07">[http://apanews.net/article_eng.php3?id_article=22922 "Former Mauritanian President Ould Haidalla seeks new term in office"], [[African Press Agency]], [[March 7]], [[2007]].</ref> and learned of the coup in [[Brazzaville]], during his return to Mauritania, from [[Denis Sassou Nguesso]], the president of the [[Republic of the Congo]].{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Haidallah returned to Mauritania anyway and was arrested at the airport in [[Nouakchott]]; he was eventually released in December 1988.<ref name="APA_2007-03-07"/> Taya promised to install [[democracy]], but his rule was considered dictatorial by many; he was deposed by a military coup in 2005. === Foreign policy === Haidallah's main achievement was to make peace with the [[Western Sahara]]n [[Polisario Front]], which had been fighting Mauritania since it annexed part of the former [[Spanish Sahara|Spanish colony]] in 1975. The CMSN opted for complete withdrawal from the conflict, evacuating southern [[Rio de Oro]] (which had been annexed as [[Tiris El Gharbiya]]) and recognizing the Polisario as the representative of the [[Sahrawi]] people. This led to a crisis in relations with the country's until-then ally Morocco, which had similarly annexed the remainder of Western Sahara, with Haidallah's government facing an attempted coup, troop clashes and military tension.<ref name="Regime"/><ref>[http://www.arab.net/mauritainia/ma_polisario.htm "Mauritania: The Polisario Problem"], Arab.net.</ref> Relations were completely severed between 1981 and 1985, when they were restored by Haidalla's successor.<ref name="LOC_Regional">[http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-8584.html "Mauritania: Regional Security Concerns"], ''[[Library of Congress]] Country Studies''.</ref><ref>[http://countrystudies.us/mauritania/64.htm "Mauritania: Morocco"], ''[[Library of Congress]] Country Studies''.</ref> However, relations improved with Polisario's main regional backer, [[Algeria]], with the Algerian government sending arms and supplies to bolster his regime.<ref name="LOC_Maghrib">[http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-8576.html Mauritania: Relations with Other States of the Maghrib], ''[[Library of Congress]] Country Studies''</ref><ref name="LOC_Consolidation"/>Haidalla's 1984 recognition of the [[Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic]] (SADR, the Polisario's [[government-in-exile]]) as a sovereign nation appears to have been one of the triggering causes for Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya's coup in 1984.<ref name="LOC_Regional"/> ===Domestic policy=== On the domestic front, his most notable policies were the institution of Islamic [[sharia]] law in 1980-83,<ref name="lexicorient">[http://lexicorient.com/e.o/mauritania_5.htm "Mauritania: History"], ''Encyclopædia of the Orient''</ref> as well as several failed attempts to rebuild the political system shattered by the 1978 coup — first as a multiparty system, and then, after the first coup attempt against him, as a one-party state.<ref name="LOC_Consolidation"/><ref name="lexicorient"/> It was also during Haidallah's rule that [[slavery]] was formally abolished in Mauritania, although the practice continues at a diminished level still today. He made a statement announcing the abolition of slavery in July 1980, and this was followed by a legal decree in November 1981.<ref name="AI_2002-11-07">[http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engAFR380032002!Open "Mauritania: A future free from slavery?"], ''[[Amnesty International]]'', [[November 7]], [[2002]].</ref> Political opponents were treated harshly, with imprisonments<ref name=Enters>[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/28/africa/AF_POL_Mauritania_Elections.php "Mauritanian ruler from the 1980s enters post-coup presidential race"], ''[[International Herald Tribune]]'', [[December 28]], [[2006]].</ref> and those responsible for one of the failed coups against his government were executed. == Activities after losing power == After returning to Mauritania in 1984, Haidallah was held in administrative detention for several years by Ould Taya, during which time he fell sick.<ref name="cridem"/> After his release, he stayed outside of politics until 2003, when he returned to head the opposition. He then unsuccessfully ran for president against Taya in November, campaigning on a moderately [[Islamist]] platform, whereas Taya, who had established full diplomatic ties with [[Israel]], was considered pro-Western. Haidallah officially came in second with about 19% of the vote, although he alleged fraud; he was arrested immediately after the election, accused of plotting a coup.<ref name="afrol">[http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=47459 "MAURITANIA: Ould Haidallah trial to begin on Monday"], ''[[IRIN]]'', [[27 November]] [[2003]].</ref> Haidallah had also been briefly detained just prior to the vote.<ref name="BBC_NOL_2003-11-09">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3254431.stm "Top Mauritanian politician held"], ''[[BBC News Online]]'', [[November 9]], [[2003]].</ref><ref>[http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR380102003?open&of=ENG-MRT "Mauritania: Fear of ill-treatment or torture / Incommunicado detention / Medical concern"], ''[[Amnesty International]]'', [[14 November]] [[2003]]</ref><ref name="BBC_NOL_2003-11-10">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3256567.stm "Charges for Mauritania candidate"], ''[[BBC News Online]]'', [[November 10]], [[2003]].</ref><ref>[http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=47144 "Peaceful election, but opposition cries foul"], ''[[IRIN]]'', [[November 7]], [[2003]].</ref> On [[December 28]], [[2003]] he received a five-year suspended sentence and therefore was set free, but barred from politics for five years.<ref>[http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=47832 "Haidalla walks free with suspended sentence"], ''[[IRIN]]'', [[December 29]], [[2003]].</ref> An appeals court confirmed this sentence in April 2004.<ref>[http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=49617 "Opposition leader stripped of political rights as putchists prepare to face trial"], ''[[IRIN]]'', [[April 22]], [[2004]].</ref> Also in April, his supporters attempted to register a political party, the [[Party for Democratic Convergence]].<ref>[http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=49446 "Mauritania: Haidalla supporters create new opposition party"], ''[[IRIN]]'', [[April 7]], [[2004]].</ref> Haidalla was arrested again on [[November 3]] [[2004]], accused of involvement in coup plots.<ref>[http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=51946 "Mauritania: Three opposition leaders arrested in connection with coup plots"], ''[[IRIN]]'', [[November 4]], [[2004]].</ref> The prosecutor sought a five-year prison sentence, but he was acquitted on [[February 3]] [[2005]] at the end of a mass trial of 195 people.<ref>[http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=52899 "Mauritania: Coup plotters get life in prison but escape death sentence"], ''[[IRIN]]'', [[February 3]], [[2005]].</ref> == After the 2005 coup == Following a military coup against Taya in August 2005, an amnesty in early September freed Haidallah from his sentence, along with more than a hundred others sentenced for political offenses.<ref>[http://www.middle-east-online.com/English/mauritania/?id=14508 "Political exiles flocking back to Mauritania"], ''Middle East Online'', [[September 12]], [[2005]].</ref> On [[December 27]], [[2006]], Haidalla announced that he would be a candidate in [[Mauritanian presidential election, 2007|the presidential election]] scheduled for [[March 11]], [[2007]].<ref name=Enters/> He campaigned on a nationalist-islamist platform,{{Fact|date=February 2007}} citing the struggle against poverty and slavery as priorities.<ref name=Enters/> On [[February 3]], he gained the support of another registered presidential candidate, former opposition politician and prisoner under Ould Taya, [[Chbih Ould Cheikh Melainine]], who dropped out of the race.<ref>[http://www.ami.mr/fr/articles/2007/fevrier/3/3.html "Ch'Bih Ould Cheikh Melainine retire sa candidature à la présidentielle de mars 2007"], Agence Mauritanienne d'Information, [[February 3]], [[2007]] {{fr icon}}.</ref><ref>[http://www.cridem.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7041 "Nouvelle coalition de parti et Ould Cheikh Melainine se retire en faveur de Ould Haidalla"], ''Convergence Républicaine pour l'Instauration de la Democratie en Mauritanie'', [[February 3]], [[2007]] {{fr icon}}.</ref> However, no longer having the political base that came with being the main candidate of the opposition under Ould Taya, Haidallah was even less successful in the 2007 election, coming in tenth place and receiving 1.73% of the vote.<ref>[http://www.ami.mr/fr/articles/2007/mars/15/5.html "Le conseil constitutionnel proclame les résultats du premier tour de l'élection présidentielles du 11 mars 2007"], Agence Mauritanienne d'Information, [[March 15]], [[2007]] {{fr icon}}.</ref> After the election, which was won by [[Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi]], Haidalla announced his support for Abdallahi in October 2007.<ref>[http://apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article_eng&id_article=45108 "Former Mauritanian leader pledges support for current president"], African Press Agency, October 25, 2007.</ref> ==References== {{reflist|2}} {{start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef | before = [[Ahmed Salim Ould Sidi]] }} {{s-ttl | title = [[Prime Minister of Mauritania]] | years=[[1979]]–[[1980|80]] }} {{s-aft | after = [[Sid Ahmed Ould Bneijara]] }} {{s-bef | before = [[Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Louly]] }} {{s-ttl | title = [[Heads of State of Mauritania|President of Mauritania]] | years=[[1980]]–[[1984|84]] }} {{s-aft | after = [[Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya]] }} {{s-bef | before = [[Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya]] }} {{s-ttl | title = [[Prime Minister of Mauritania]] | years=[[1984]] }} {{s-aft | after = [[Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya]] }} {{end}} {{MauritanianPresidents}} {{MauritaniaPMs}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ould Haidalla, Mohamed Khouna}} [[Category:1940 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Mauritanian politicians]] [[Category:Mauritanian military personnel]] [[de:Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla]] [[et:Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla]] [[es:Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla]] [[it:Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla]] [[pl:Muhammad Chuna uld Hajdalla]] [[sv:Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla]]