Qatar attempted coup in Mauritania, MP claims

CAIRO – 22 June 2017: A Mauritanian parliamentarian has claimed that Qatar provided support to opposition groups in an attempt to arrange a coup in the country.

“Qatar provided support to parties in Mauritania, attempted to stage a coup against the current regime and backed the terrorist group Ansar el-Din based in Northern Mali,” Mauritanian Parliamentarian El-Naserry Muhammed Weld Muhameddo said on Wednesday in an interview with private Mauritanian satellite channel Elmourabiton TV.

He did not say when this attempted coup happened.

Mauritania was affected by Doha’s foreign policies which “support terrorism” in Northern Mali, as well as incite provocations inside the country in a bid to destabilize its security, Muhameddo added.

The parliamentarian also accused the tiny Arab Gulf nation of devoting its wealth to “carrying out destructive policies.”


Media in Mauritania and Egypt have claimed Qatar sought to breach Mauritania’s institutions in order to stage a coup against President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz in favor of Qatar’s allies, who adopt “extremist agendas.”

“Nouakchott has evidence that accuse Doha of supporting terrorism or conspiring against the national security of Mauritania,” the reports added, without giving details of the supposed evidence.

According to assistant Secretary- General of the Mauritanian government Muhammed Ishaq, “Qatar generously financed extremist movements and funded conflicts waged lately in Arab nations. It succeeded in terminating any serious dangers that may threaten the Zionist entity.”

He added that Qatar paid the Muslim Brotherhood in Mauritania to destabilize the country’s security and stage an uprising like what happened in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya in 2011.

“Mauritania should have severed ties with Qatar too, just like what happened with Israel… as the two countries are adopting a destructive approach against Arab national security. This hostile approach which Qatar adopted could be noticed clearly through in its attempts to divide the Arab countries unity, spread strife and stoke fear by supporting terrorism,” Ishaq stated.

Claims against Qatar have been rampant in recent weeks, since Egypt and a number of Arab Gulf states severed diplomatic ties with the Qatari state over accusations of funding terrorism.