This coup replaced Mauritania's post-1978 military junta with a new 24-member council, reshaping the country's leadership amid the ongoing Western Sahara conflict.
Key Facts
- Date of coup
- 6 April 1979
- Coup leaders
- Col. Ahmed Ould Bouceif & Col. Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla
- Deposed body
- 20-member CMRN junta under Col. Mustafa Ould Salek
- New ruling body
- 24-member Military Committee for National Salvation (CMSN)
- Bouceif's death
- Killed in airplane crash in Senegal, 27 May 1979
- Salek's resignation
- Formally resigned as figurehead president on 3 June 1979
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Military Committee for National Recovery (CMRN), formed after a 1978 coup, had proven ineffective under President Mustafa Ould Salek. Discontent within the military over the handling of the Western Sahara conflict and governance failures created conditions for a factional challenge to Salek's authority.
On 6 April 1979, Colonel Ahmed Ould Bouceif and Colonel Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla led a coup that ousted the 20-member CMRN and President Mustafa Ould Salek. The existing junta was dissolved and replaced by the 24-member Military Committee for National Salvation (CMSN), with Salek initially retained as a figurehead president.
Salek formally resigned on 3 June 1979 and was succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Louly. Bouceif, appointed prime minister, died in an airplane crash in Senegal on 27 May 1979 and was succeeded by Haidalla on 31 May, establishing Haidalla as the dominant figure in Mauritanian politics.