Nouakchott | The former Mauritanian head of state Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, first president of the country democratically elected in 2007 and overthrown by a pustch the following year, died in the night from Sunday to Monday in Nouakchott, we learned with his family and the presidency.
Mr. Abdallahi, born in 1938, died of heart failure in a private clinic in the capital, according to his relatives.
The Mauritanian presidency announced in a statement Monday a three-day national mourning and national funeral, without specifying a date.
Mr. Abdallahi, proclaimed president on April 19, 2007, was overthrown 15 months later, on August 6, 2008, by a coup led by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, whom he dismissed from the command of the presidential guard. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz himself held the post of president from 2009 to 2019.
Mr. Abdallahi was then imprisoned in an undisclosed location before being released on December 21, 2008. He was placed under house arrest in his native village of Lemden (150 km east of Nouakchott) until June 27. 2009.