1979 Mauritanian coup d'état

1979 Mauritanian coup d'état
	A CIA WFB map of Mauritania
Date	6 April 1979
Location	Nouakchott, Mauritania
Type	Military coup
Motive	Regime change
Target	Presidential Palace, Nouakchott
Organised by	Ahmed Ould Bouceif; Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla
Participants	Faction within the Armed Forces
Outcome	Coup succeeds Dismissal of the CMRN.; Formation of the CMSN.; Resignation of Mustafa Ould Salek.; Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Louly assumed the presidency of the CMSN.; Bouceif assumed the premiership, to be succeeded by Haidalla on his death.;

The 1979 Mauritanian coup d'état was a military coup in Mauritania which took place on 6 April 1979.^[1] The coup was led by Colonel Ahmed Ould Bouceif and Colonel Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla, who seized power from the President, Colonel Mustafa Ould Salek, and the 20-member ruling Military Committee for National Recovery (CMRN), a military junta which was created following an earlier coup in 1978.

The coup resulted in the dismissal of the CMRN and the formation of the 24-member Military Committee for National Salvation (CMSN), a new junta initially under the presidency of Salek as a figurehead, until his official resignation on 3 June.^[2]^[3] He was succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Louly.^[2] Bouceif was appointed prime minister, and served until his death in an airplane crash in Senegal on 27 May.^[4] He was succeeded by Haidalla on 31 May.^[5]