Defiant Mauritania junta to form new government

By Daniel Magnowski and Hachem Sidi Salem NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) - Mauritania's coup leaders have announced they will appoint a government to run the country until new elections, defying a chorus of international demands to restore the first democratically elected president. Soldiers in the northwest African country toppled Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi on Wednesday after he tried to sack senior officers. Abdallahi is being held at a secret location. His daughter, released from house arrest with the rest of his family late on Thursday, said Abdallahi had been in need of medical attention. "His doctor visited him last night, and said he has to have a little operation, but it is not serious," she told Reuters shortly after her release from house arrest, declining to give details of the exact nature of the president's medical... [read full story]