The former Mauritanian president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, accused the current president of the country, Mohamed Ould Sheikh Al-Ghazwani, of allying with the Muslim Brotherhood to abuse him, liquidate him politically, and try him on "flimsy" charges.
Ould Abdel Aziz, who is being pursued by the authorities on charges of "corruption", said in a statement issued today, Saturday, that the new environment and the new supporters of the current president, Mohamed Ould Sheikh Al-Ghazwani - including leaders from the Muslim Brotherhood - intentionally set off an artificial political crisis around a concept that Mauritanians had not previously heard about, "the reference." The clear aim was to offend me and try to harass me politically.
Ould Abdel Aziz confirmed the incursion of figures affiliated with the "Brotherhood" into the ranks of the president's new supporters, and said that he had opened the doors of his office wide to receive personalities from this "dangerous trend", and the opposition in general.
The former president described referring the file of suspicions of corruption to the judiciary as "a dangerous escalation against him personally when the parliamentarians of the majority affiliated with the new president decided to support an investigation committee that the Brotherhood and some of their allies had proposed, and basically aimed at criminalizing even before obtaining any evidence against me."
A parliamentary commission of inquiry had recommended accountability for those suspected of being involved in corruption deals during the era of former President Ould Abdel Aziz, including the president himself and members of his family.