No delegation of the ruling Mauritanian junta will be granted permission to attend a summit of the International Francophonie Organisation (OIF), holding 17-19 October in Québec, Canada, reliable sources said Wednesday. OIF said the move only confirmed its common position with the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) towards the military junta, led by General Mohamed Abdel Aziz. OIF, AU and the EU held a meeting 17 September in Paris, France, over the Mauritanian problem at the end of which they reaffirmed their demand for a return to constitutional legality in that African country. According to the OIF summit’s provisional agenda, the situation in Mauritania, including the fate of President Sidi Ould Abdallahi, toppled 6 October and still detained, would be discussed during a session entitled “Peace, democracy and the rule of law”. The OIF summit, the 12th in the series, is expected to end 20 October with the adoption of a text entitled the “Quebec Declaration” that will reconsider, among others, problems of peace and democracy in several francophone countries, including Mauritania.
