DOHA, 23 August 2005 — Mauritania’s ousted leader Maaouiya Ould Taya was granted political asylum in Qatar yesterday on condition that he refrain from political activity, an Arab diplomatic source said.

“Qatar has granted Ould Taya political asylum in accordance with provisions of the Qatari constitution which went into effect earlier this year,” the source told AFP, requesting anonymity. But the ousted Mauritanian president “has been asked not to engage in any political activity with a view to preserving relations between Doha and Nouakchott,” the source said. Ould Taya arrived in gas-rich Qatar yesterday, nearly three weeks after he was toppled in a bloodless coup on Aug. 3 while he was out of the country.

Mohamad Ould Ali, the private teacher of the exiled leader, said on their arrival in Qatar that Ould Taya was in “high spirits.”

He said Ould Taya flew in with his wife and children from Gambia, where he had been for nearly two weeks, following a short stopover in Cairo.

The family was taken to a luxurious hotel in the Qatari capital. The Mauritanian junta which seized power has formed a civilian government and promised a new constitution and elections within two years.

The coup has been widely welcomed at home and accepted internationally despite formal condemnations by the African Union.