Army officers yesterday staged a coup in Mauritania , placing the democratically elected President in house arrest. The coup reportedly is lead by the head of Mauritania 's presidential guards.

Reports from Nouakchott indicate that President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi has been detained by the head of his presidential guards, his whereabouts being unknown. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghf also has been arrested by renegade troops and reportedly is held in army barracks. Political observers hold that the surprise coup came as a reaction to the President's naming of a new head  of the army. President Abdallahi is the first democratically elected leader of Mauritania since independence, also the first not basing his power on army support.

There have been a series of controversies recently in the Mauritanian parliament, which last month saw the walking out of a large number of deputies from the legislative assembly causing the presidential majority to crumble. President Abdallahi accused these MPs of being close to the armed forces and the old military regime. He thus fired the military top leaders accused of standing behind the political crisis.

Renegade troops also are reported to have taken control of all state media in Nouakchott . The relatively independent state radio and television have been shut down by the coup leaders. So far, therefore, only few unbiased reports are escaping the country.

Following an ultimatum given by Gambian President Yahya Jammeh to the executive committee of the Supreme Islamic Council, the Department of State for Religious Affairs on Wednesday issued a press release stating that the council will holds its first ever congress on Sunday 17^th August. The release stated that it supersedes an earlier release issued by the council itself. It was when President Jammeh officially opened the councils newly constructed headquarters that he decried the “disunity” within the council without actually dilating on the particulars. After the opening ceremony the council issued a quaint press release denouncing the spread of Shiite teachings in The Gambia, something out of the ordinary because Shias in The Gambia are a negligible minority and all Lebanese living  in The Gambia and practicing their faith without any problems with the native Muslim Community. There were even suspicions that the denunciation might have been instigated by the totalitarian Gambian leader. The coming congress provides the opportunity for the replacement of the council’s highly discredited leadership though the election of an independent leadership is very unlikely according to reliable sources. Many wonder if the state has any legal right to interfere with the affairs of the council.