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Nota da BBC
Voters in the African desert state of Mauritania
have begun casting their ballots in a presidential election clouded by arrests
on the eve of polls.
Opposition candidate and former
dictator Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah was held for several hours by police on
suspicion of plotting a coup.
Emerging from custody, he called for a heavy
turnout and a clean vote.
Mauritania's pro-Western President, Maaouiya Ould
Taya, is standing again after nearly 20 years in office.
The two men are long-standing rivals; Mr Ould Taya ousted Mr Ould Haidallah in a coup nearly 20 years ago. BBC reporters in the capital, Nouakkchot, and in the south of the country,
said the voting appeared to be taking place in a calm and orderly manner.
However, one voter in the capital told the BBC's Network Africa:"It is not
the voting that is a problem but the counting".
Police are believed to be still holding two sons of Mr Ould Haidallah and a
number of his close associates.
State Prosecutor Mohamed Elgheiz Ould Oumar accused the group of planning
to "change the government by violence and insurrection" and warned that Mr
Haidallah could be re-arrested "at any time".
The accusation has been denied by the candidate's team.
The opposition candidate, who is campaigning on an Islamist platform, told
hundreds of cheering supporters at his home in the capital, Nouakchott, that his
arrest had been "just part of the ongoing intimidation".
Polls opened at 0700 local time (0700 GMT).
'Climate of harassment'
President Ould Taya is seeking re-election six months after the army put
down a coup attempt.
Mr Ould Taya seized power in 1984 in a coup from Mr Ould Haidallah who had
been put in office by a coup himself in 1980.
Mr Ould Taya went on to win elections in 1992 and 1997, amid allegations of
fraud and opposition boycotts.
In September, the New York-based group Human Rights Watch warned of a
"climate of harassment of opposition members" following the arrest of several
opposition activists and Islamists.
Racial tensions
Dominated by mixed-race Arabic-speakers, Mauritania is also home to about
30% black Africans and 30% light-skinned Arabs.
Massaoud Ould Bolkheir is the first descendant of slaves to seek the presidency An Islamic state, it is nevertheless one of the handful of Arab states to recognise Israel and President Ould Taya has pursued an alliance with the United States Campaigners say slavery is still practised in the vast desert state despite
its official abolition in 1981 and one of the candidates is Massaoud Ould
Bolkheir, the first descendant of slaves to seek the highest office.
Mr Ould Bolkheir says his aim is to "introduce legislation forever
banishing slavery, racism, tribalism and all the caste ideologies found in
Mauritania".
Another running this year is the first woman candidate, Aicha Mint Jeddane.
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