Mauritania Police Disperse Anti-Coup Protest

Mauritanian police fired teargas Sunday to disperse an anti-coup protest in the capital, barely a day before the expiry of an African Union ultimatum for a return to constitutional rule. The coup had been organized in Nouakchott by an alliance of pro-democratic political parties in defiance of a ban on demonstrations announced last week by the country’s military junta.  Police used tear gas to rout the protesters as they chanted anticoup slogans while brandishing pictures of ousted President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, who was overthrown in an August 6 putsch.[PE]