Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla
محمد خونا ولد هيداله
4th Chairman of the Military Committee for National Salvation
In office 4 January 1980 – 12 December 1984
Preceded by	Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Louly
Succeeded by	Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
3rd Prime Minister of Mauritania
In office 31 May 1979 – 12 December 1980
Preceded by	Ahmed Salim Ould Sidi (Acting)
Succeeded by	Sid Ahmed Ould Bneijara
In office 8 March 1984 – 12 December 1984
Preceded by	Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
Succeeded by	Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
Personal details
Born	1940 (age 84–85) La Güera, Spanish Sahara or Nouadhibou, French West Africa
Nationality	Mauritanian
Residence	Nouakchott
Military service
Branch/service	Mauritanian Army
Years of service	1962–1984
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	Western Sahara War

Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla, born in 1940, is a former military officer and politician from Mauritania. He served as the country's leader, known as the head of state, from January 4, 1980, to December 12, 1984. He also held the position of Prime Minister at different times.

After his time as leader, he tried to become president in the 2003 and 2007 elections, but he was not successful.

Early Life and Military Career

Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla was born in 1940 in the Nouadhibou region. This area was either in what was then called Spanish Sahara or in colonial Mauritania. His family belonged to the Sahrawi Laaroussien tribe.

He went to high school in Rosso, a town near the border with Senegal. In 1961, he earned a science degree in Dakar, Senegal. He joined the Mauritanian army in 1962. He then studied at French military schools, including the famous Saint-Cyr.

After 1975, he led military forces in northern Mauritania and Tiris al-Gharbiya (part of Western Sahara). He was involved in the Western Sahara War, fighting against Polisario Front fighters. Key areas where he commanded troops included Zouérat and Bir Moghrein.

In 1978, Mauritania was facing many problems. Mohamed Khouna took part in a coup d'état, which is when military leaders suddenly take control of the government. This event removed the then-President, Moktar Ould Daddah. As a member of the CRMN, a group of military leaders, he was promoted to Chief of the General Staff.

Leading Mauritania

Mohamed Khouna became Prime Minister on May 31, 1979. This happened shortly after the previous Prime Minister, Col. Ahmed Ould Bouceif, passed away in an airplane crash. Just a month before, Mohamed Khouna and Col. Bouceif had taken power for the CMSN (Military Committee for National Salvation).

On January 4, 1980, Mohamed Khouna took over as the head of state from Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Louly. He continued to be Prime Minister until December of that year. At that point, a civilian, Sid Ahmed Ould Bneijara, was appointed to the Prime Minister role.

Challenges During His Leadership

His time as leader was quite challenging, with many political changes. Mauritania was trying to end its involvement in the war with the Polisario Front, which had started in 1975. His government also faced several attempts by others to take power.

On March 16, 1981, there was a strong attempt to overthrow Mohamed Khouna, but it failed. He believed Morocco was behind this attempt, though Morocco denied it. The next month, Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya was made Prime Minister. Another attempt to remove him was thought to be supported by Libya.

To strengthen his own power, Mohamed Khouna became Prime Minister again on March 8, 1984. He replaced Taya in this role.

However, on December 12, 1984, Taya removed Mohamed Khouna from power in another coup. This happened while Mohamed Khouna was out of the country at a meeting in Burundi. He learned about the coup on his way back to Mauritania. Despite this, he returned and was arrested at the airport in Nouakchott. He was later released in December 1988.

Taya promised to bring democracy to Mauritania. However, many people felt his rule was strict. He was later removed from power by a military coup in August 2005.

Foreign Relations

One of Mohamed Khouna's most important achievements was making peace with the Polisario Front. This group had been fighting Mauritania since 1975. His government decided to completely withdraw from the conflict. They left the southern part of Río de Oro (which Mauritania had taken over) and recognized the POLISARIO as the voice of the Sahrawi people.

This decision caused problems with Morocco, which had been an ally until then. Morocco had also taken over part of Western Sahara. Mohamed Khouna's government faced an attempted coup, military clashes, and tension with Morocco. Relations between the two countries were completely cut off from 1981 to 1985.

However, relations improved with Algeria, which supported the POLISARIO. Algeria sent weapons and supplies to help Mohamed Khouna's government. In 1984, Mohamed Khouna recognized the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), which was the POLISARIO's government-in-exile, as a sovereign nation. This recognition seems to have been one of the reasons for Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya's coup later that year.

Policies at Home

Inside Mauritania, Mohamed Khouna made some important changes. He introduced Sharia law, which is Islamic law, between 1980 and 1983. He also tried several times to fix the political system that had been broken by the 1978 coup. First, he tried to create a system with many political parties. Then, after an attempt to overthrow him, he tried to make it a one-party state.

It was also during his time as leader that slavery was officially and completely ended in Mauritania. He announced the abolition of slavery in July 1980, and a legal order followed in November 1981. Even though it was officially abolished, some forms of the practice continued at a much smaller level.

People who opposed his government faced difficulties, and some were arrested.

After Losing Power

After returning to Mauritania in late 1984, Mohamed Khouna was held by Ould Taya's government for several years. During this time, he became ill. After his release, he stayed out of politics until 2003.

In 2003, he returned to lead the opposition. He ran for president against Taya in November but was not successful. He campaigned on a platform that included moderate Islamism. Taya, who had formed full diplomatic ties with Israel, was seen as pro-Western. Mohamed Khouna officially came in second place with about 19% of the votes, but he claimed there was cheating. He was arrested right after the election, accused of trying to overthrow the government. He had also been briefly held just before the vote.

On December 28, 2003, he received a five-year suspended sentence, which meant he was set free but could not be involved in politics for five years. An appeals court confirmed this sentence in April 2004. Also in April, his supporters tried to register a political party called the Party for Democratic Convergence.

Mohamed Khouna was arrested again on November 3, 2004, accused of being involved in plans to overthrow the government. The prosecutor wanted a five-year prison sentence for him. However, he was found not guilty on February 3, 2005, at the end of a large trial involving 195 people.

After the 2005 Coup

After a military coup removed Taya from power in August 2005, an amnesty in early September freed Mohamed Khouna from his sentences. More than a hundred other people who had been sentenced for political reasons were also freed.

On December 27, 2006, Mohamed Khouna announced that he would run in the 2007 Mauritanian presidential election, which was set for March 11, 2007. His campaign focused on nationalist and Islamist ideas, highlighting the fight against poverty and slavery as key goals. On February 3, he gained the support of another presidential candidate, Chbih Ould Cheikh Melainine, who then left the race.

However, Mohamed Khouna did not have the same strong political support he had when he was the main opposition candidate under Ould Taya. He was less successful in the 2007 election, coming in tenth place with only 1.73% of the votes.

After the election, which was won by Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, Mohamed Khouna announced his support for Abdallahi in October 2007. However, after the coup that removed Abdallahi in August 2008, Mohamed Khouna supported the coup. On August 29, 2008, he stated that it was necessary and urged all Mauritanians to support it. He also criticized other governments for reacting negatively to the coup, saying they were interfering in Mauritanian affairs.

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  Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla

See also

In Spanish: Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla para niños