General Aziz came to power last August in a coup that toppled the country's first freely-elected leader, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.

VOA: standard.2009.03.29

The head of Mauritania's democratic opposition, Ahmed Ould Dadah, says General Aziz's candidacy is illegal even if he resigns his military commission because Mauritanian law prohibits those who take power by force from runningin the next election.

VOA: standard.2009.03.29