Junta Frees Prisoners of Former Regime
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From Times Wire Reports
Mauritania’s month-old military junta freed political prisoners jailed by the old regime, and thousands of people rushed to the main prison in the capital, Nouakchott, to greet the inmates as they were released.
Col. Ely Ould Mohammed Vall, who led the bloodless Aug. 3 coup that ended Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya’s 21-year authoritarian rule, said in a televised address that he was freeing “all Mauritanians found guilty of political crimes or offenses, to allow them to participate in the political life of the country.”
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