Presidential Election Begins in Mauritania

By VOA News 18 July 2009

Mauritanian woman casts her vote for president at polling station in Olympic Stadium, Nouakchott, 18 Jul 2009

Voters in Mauritania are casting ballots for a new president, less than a year after the country's first freely-elected leader was ousted in a coup.

General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is a candidate in the election. General Aziz overthrew President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi last August.

The general then changed the nation's constitution to allow retired officers to run for political office before resigning his commission.

General Aziz now faces challengers that include opposition leader Ahmed Ould Dadah. Mr. Dadah finished second in Mauritania's 2007 election.

Mr. Dadah is from a farming community near the country's border with Senegal and is expected to do well in his home region.

If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two candidates will face off in a second round of balloting on August 1.

More than 250 electoral observers from the Arab League and African Union are in the northwest African nation to monitor the vote.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.