The government and opposition in Mauritania begin a national dialogue from Saturday, 17 September, official sources told PANA here Friday. The meeting, that will take place at the International Conference Centre in Nouakchott (CICN)-Palace of Congresses, will be opened by president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

Taking part in the dialogue are a delegation of the Special Representative of the President, the delegates of the Coalition of the Majority Parties (CPM) and delegates from four opposition parties.

The dialogue will, however, be boycotted by several other opposition parties, including the Rally of Democratic Forces (RFD) and the Union of Forces for Progress (UFP).

The two parties have the overwhelming majority of opposition MPs in the National Assembly.

They believe that the ruling party 'will not offer any guarantee' regarding the implementation of the outcome of the dialogue and recalled a previous agreement in June 2009 which 'remained unimplemented'.

Pana 17/09/2011