NOUAKCHOTT, Dec 20 (Reuters) - The European Commission is ready to release 156 million euros ($224.5 million) of aid to Mauritania frozen after a 2008 coup, an EU official said on Sunday after agreeing democratic reforms with local authorities.
The move is the latest stamp of international legitimacy for coup-leader-turned-president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who this week won International Monetary Fund support for his West African state worth at least $100 million over three years.
'We agreed on all the big reforms that await Mauritania in coming months,' Commission Director-General for Development Stefano Manservisi told reporters in the capital Nouakchott.
He listed human rights, electoral reform, anti-corruption and security measures as among the priorities. The Commission will vote formally on the restart of EU cooperation and aid in Brussels next month.
The West sees Aziz as a strong ally in the fight against terrorism, and in particular efforts to tackle the growth of allies of al Qaeda operating in the Sahara.
The region has seen a string of kidnappings of foreigners in recent weeks, with two Italians reported missing in Mauritania over the weekend.
Armed groups, some of them with links to al Qaeda's wing in the region, operate across the vast, remote desert zone, which includes eastern Mauritania, northern Mali and southern Algeria.
Aziz was sworn in as president in August after a poll that opponents said was a fraud, pledging to make the fight against corruption and insecurity among his priorities.
(Reporting by Laurent Prieur; Writing by Mark John; Editing by Michael Roddy) (For more Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://af.reuters.com/) ($1=.6949 Euro) Keywords: MAURITANIA EU/ (mark.john@thomsonreuters.com; Dakar Newsroom +221 33 864 5076) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The move is the latest stamp of international legitimacy for coup-leader-turned-president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who this week won International Monetary Fund support for his West African state worth at least $100 million over three years.
'We agreed on all the big reforms that await Mauritania in coming months,' Commission Director-General for Development Stefano Manservisi told reporters in the capital Nouakchott.
He listed human rights, electoral reform, anti-corruption and security measures as among the priorities. The Commission will vote formally on the restart of EU cooperation and aid in Brussels next month.
The West sees Aziz as a strong ally in the fight against terrorism, and in particular efforts to tackle the growth of allies of al Qaeda operating in the Sahara.
The region has seen a string of kidnappings of foreigners in recent weeks, with two Italians reported missing in Mauritania over the weekend.
Armed groups, some of them with links to al Qaeda's wing in the region, operate across the vast, remote desert zone, which includes eastern Mauritania, northern Mali and southern Algeria.
Aziz was sworn in as president in August after a poll that opponents said was a fraud, pledging to make the fight against corruption and insecurity among his priorities.
(Reporting by Laurent Prieur; Writing by Mark John; Editing by Michael Roddy) (For more Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://af.reuters.com/) ($1=.6949 Euro) Keywords: MAURITANIA EU/ (mark.john@thomsonreuters.com; Dakar Newsroom +221 33 864 5076) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.