"For-Mauritania" has launched a massive information campaign, targeting Mauritania's development partners. And in a response from the Canadian Foreign Affairs Ministry, The Honourable David L. Emerson has expressed his country's "Schock" at the military coup in Mauritania.
Following is the full content of the letter:


Thank you for your email of August 19, 2008, regarding the recent military coup in Mauritania.

Canada, like most of the international community, is shocked by the August 6, 2008 military coup in Nouakchott which abruptly ended a young and vibrant democratic experience in Mauritania. Canada condemns the military coup and demands the reestablishment of the constitutional order and the liberation of President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and Prime Minister Ahmed Waghf, both under house arrest.

The promotion of democratic values represents a key component of Canada's foreign policy. In that respect, Canada welcomes the decision of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and the African Union to suspend Mauritania from their ranks. Hopefully, such pressures from the international community and the Mauritanian people will help the return of the constitutional order in that country.

Canada officially condemned the military coup in Mauritania. For more information please visit the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada website at:

http://w01.international.gc.ca/minpub/Publication.aspx?isRedirect=True&publication_id=386426&Language=E&docnumber=172.

Thank you again for writing and sharing your concerns.

Sincerely,
The Honourable David L. Emerson, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Foreign Affairs