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EU aid chief wants Mauritania aid frozen
18 Aug 2008 12:01:45 GMT
 Source: Reuters
BRUSSELS, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The European Union aid chief wants the bloc to suspend its development aid to Mauritania and freeze the bloc's single biggest fishing deal over the political unrest in the African country, a spokesman said on Monday.

The European Commission spokesman said the decision will be taken by the EU's 27 governments next month.

"We will ... ask that the cooperation activities that are currently ongoing will be frozen, except everything that is limited to humanitarian action or that is directly beneficial to the population," Martin Selmayr told a regular news briefing.

"EU Aid and Development Commissioner Louis Michel will propose (the fisheries agreement) be suspended until there is a resolution to the situation," he added.

Brussels had allocated 156 million euros ($229.7 million) of aid for the West African country for 2008-2013 and additionally agreed to pay 75.25 million euros ($110.8 million) a year for the right to fish in Mauritania's waters over the next four years, starting on Aug. 31.

Presidential guardsmen seized the Mauritanian president in a coup earlier this month after he sacked several top army officers, and they announced he had been deposed.

Mauritania's new ruling military junta appointed a respected former ambassador to Belgium and the European Union as prime minister on Thursday.

Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf, named in a decree published by state media, had previously supported both ousted President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and the main opposition party, which has thrown its weight firmly behind the coup leaders.

The European Commission said on Monday it regretted the nomination of a new prime minister saying it was "a bad sign" which did not go in the right direction.

The EU froze aid to Mauritania after a coup in 2005. It resumed it after the then military-led government pledged to organise elections and release political prisoners. (Reporting by Darren Ennis and Ingrid Melander)


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Mauritania's President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi is seen in Almudaina palace in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, in this July 24, 2008 file photo. Mauritanian soldiers overthrew the elected president in ...


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Last updated:Mon Aug 18 12:04:42 2008