Mauritania's detained president to be freed

The leaders of Mauritania's recent coup have agreed to free the country's president, who has been under house arrest since the military takeover four months ago, international officials said Sunday.Abda

President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi will be released no later than Dec. 24, a statement by the African Union and the European Union said. The president's unconditional release has been an important demand of the international community, which cut off aid to the West African nation following the coup.

Abdallahi was elected president last year in the country's first free election in more than two decades. On Aug. 6, hours after he fired several high-ranking generals, a military junta declared a coup and placed Abdallahi under house arrest in a government-owned villa. In November, the junta bowed to international pressure and transported Abdallahi to his native village, where they claimed he was no longer under house arrest.

The statement issued by the AU and EU as well, as the Arab League and the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, said Abdallahi's release "will be the first step in answering the requests of the international community." Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf, the man the junta named prime minister, also announced the country will hold a national conference starting Dec. 27 to prepare for the country's next presidential election.