Mauritania's capital sees peace rally for better life, reform

RABAT, February 26 (Itar-Tass) -- A peace rally attended by more than a thousand people, who demanded from the government reforms aimed at addressing social inequality, improvement of quality of life and reduction in unemployment took place in the capital of Mauritania, Nouakchott on Friday.
The main protesters were young people, who were chanting slogans like: "We are hungry and want some bread!", "Give us a decent life" and "No to price hikes!" as well as the already extremely popular one on the streets of Arab cities after the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt "The people want the fall of the regime!".
Those present emphasized the idea they did not represent any political party or tribe. The very few police present at the rally did not intervene and there were no incidents.
On Thursday, the Prime Minister of Mauritania, Ould Moulay Mohammed Laghdaf announced that the government guaranteed the freedom of expression and demonstration. He promised that the government would closely address the problem of employment to create over 17 thousand new jobs by the end of this year, build a network of roads in the poor areas of Nouakchott, increase food production, and shortly implement a project to resettle 100 thousand Mauritanian families to new homes.
Earlier this month, a number of trade unions held a peaceful march in the capital to urge the authorities "to raise salaries and improve the social protection of citizens." The demonstrators recommended the government "to respond in time to the wishes of the people and to draw lessons from what happened in Tunisia and Egypt not to put the situation in the country at risk in the future."
In late January, President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who felt the
growth of resentment among the poor, announced a 30-percent reduction in the prices of essentials. Mauritania is one of the least developed
countries in the Arab world, where about half of the three-million
population live below the poverty line.