NOUAKCHOTT - Thousands of Mauritanians protested in the capital late Wednesday, calling for the departure of President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, whom they accuse of despotism and mismanagement.
Protestors chanted "Aziz get out" and "we are sick of the tyrant" as they marched through the capital, the latest of several anti-regime protests held in the West African nation in recent months.
Saleh Ould Henenna, leader of the Coordination of Democratic Opposition (COD) who organised the march, said Aziz should "leave before it is too late.
"Our action is peaceful but determined and will take all forms" to force him to step down.
The opposition began holding similar protests on May 2, most of which have been broken up by police, leaving several injured.
They accuse the former general of despotism and mismanagement and having failed to heed commitments made in the Dakar accords that led to his election in 2009, a year after he seized power in a coup d'etat.
The president's mandate expires in 2014.
