Mauritania's ousted president was moved from house arrest in the capital to his home town today by the military junta which overthrew him, ignoring international demands to free him and restore him to office.
The European Union threatened on October 20th to apply sanctions to the Saharan Islamic state if constitutional rule under ousted President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi were not restored within a month. He was deposed in a bloodless coup in August.
"From our point of view, this is more of a transfer of point of detention than a full liberation," a Western diplomat said.
"This is not enough, this is not a participation, it's just moving from one cell to another," he said.
To meet the EU's demands, Mauritania's rulers must release Abdallahi completely and relinquish their grip on power, another diplomat said.
"What the international community asked for is that Sidi be freed, which means freedom of movement, and to participate in getting out of this crisis," he said.
Mr Abdallahi became Mauritania's first democratically elected president when he won a multi-party vote last year, but was toppled on August 6th by a group of generals led by presidential guard chief Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, whom Adballahi had tried to dismiss.
Since then, Mr Abdallahi had been kept under house arrest by the junta that overthrew him.
"The former president Sidi has been freed this morning. He was accompanied to his home town," a member of the High State Council said.
Mr Abdallahi was taken to his home town of Lemden, some 200 km (125 miles) south of Nouakchott.
"He can meet whoever he likes, but he may not leave the town until further notice. It's a security measure."
The United States has imposed travel restrictions on some members of the military government and frozen some of its aid to Mauritania, the world's seventh biggest exporter of iron ore which also started producing oil in 2006.
France, the country's former colonial ruler, and the World Bank have also frozen some aid.
The African Union has suspended Mauritania's membership over the coup, but several AU members in the region appear to have given tacit approval to the military takeover.
Reuters