Mauritania's opposition parties to participate in Dakar mediation talks

Nouakchott- Mauritania (PANA) -- The National Front for the Defence of Democracy (FNDD) which supports President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallah, ousted from p o wer in the 6 August 2008 coup, and the Union of Democratic Forces (RFD), the cou n try's main opposition party before the coup, will take part in mediation talks t o be held in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, between all the stakeholders in the l i ngering Mauritanian political and institutional crises, opposition sources told P ANA here.
RFD and FNDD will each be represented by five delegates.
Former minister and For mer Mauritanian ambassador to Senegal Mohamed Abderahmane Ould Moine will lead t h e RFD team while the chair of the Union of Progress Forces (UFP), Mohamed Ould M a ouloud, who is currently the FNDD rotational chairman, will lead the Front.
The two parties, which are opposed to the 6 August 2008 coup and to the junta's electoral agenda, agreed to take part in the talks, initiated by Senegalese Pres i dent Abdoulaye Wade, with just under two weeks to the 6 June 2009 presidential e l ection.
The FNDD and RFD representatives are due to leave Mauritania Tuesday.
Coup leader General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, stepped down from power to take par t in the polls, a stand opposed vehemently by the opposition parties.
The parties have called for a return to the constitutional order which effective ly would exclude Aziz from the election and restore Abdallah to power.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the International Contact Group on Mauritania (GCIM) is scheduled for Wednesday in Dakar.