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Mauritanian President Shot

Hannah Madans |
October 14, 2012 | 1:54 p.m. PDT

Senior News Editor

Nouakchott, Mauritania (Creative Commons)
Nouakchott, Mauritania (Creative Commons)
The president of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, was slightly wounded Saturday after an accidental shooting.

The president's convoy was fired on by an army unit, the government told The Daily Beast. A military source reportedly disagrees with the government's story and said the attack was intentional.

Abdel Aziz is being treated in a hospital in the nation's capitol.

"This was an accidental shooting on the presidential convoy as it returned to Nouakchott. The army unit did not recognise the presidential convoy," Communications Minister Hamdi Ould Mahjoub said on national television, according to News 24. "The Mauritanian people can be reassured, the president is fine... He was slightly wounded, and he got out of the vehicle unassisted upon arrival at the hospital, where he walked in without difficulty."

The hospital was placed under high surveillance.

Opposition lawmakers accuse Abdel Aziz of mismanagement and failing to follow through on commitments made in 2009 when he seized power.


Reach Senior News Editor Hannah Madans here.



 

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