In an article on elections in the African country of Mauritania, The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood website has identified the “Islamic Movement” as affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and provided a biography of , said to be one of the Movement’s most prominent leaders. According to the article:
According to observers, The Islamists have great and active electoral power in Mauritania which makes them favourable in achieving good results in the presidential elections. They also have control over the fields of students and permanent presence in the fields of women in addition to the media campaign on websites both inside Mauritania and abroad.Normally, the Islamic Movement in Mauritania is described as “moderate” in its political practices and proposals as it participates in politics through the legally permitted framework as well as working with all political parties available in the political arena. Islamists took part in 2008 in establishing the “National Front for the Defence of Democracy” which is anti-coup, where they got involved with the political forces which formed a political and media campaign against the leaders of the Military Council before they expanded the coalition against the Military ruling to end 2009 by involving the Mauritanian opposition leader, Ahmed Weld Daddah in efforts to cancel the elections of the Military and move in the direction of a harmonious transitional period. The Tawasol Party which had won legitimacy in 2007 is led by Weld Mansour and includes five MP”s and more than one hundred and fifty provincial chancellors from all over Mauritania. In May 2008, two of the party members joined the government formed by the deposed Weld Sheikh Abdullah, months before the coup. Mohamed Jamil Weld Mansour is considered one of the most prominent leaders of the Islamic Movement (the school of the Muslim Brotherhood) where he has excellent relations both in Mauritania and abroad. He joined the union and began political work in the early 80″s as a freedom fighter along with other students with Islamists and many other political alliances. He also became a leader of a number of Islamic organizations such as “The initiative of Centralist Reformers”; he was later elected as head of Tawasol during its first and last conference since its establishment, with a majority in the party.
Abdallah Bin Bayyah, last known to be living in Saudia Arabia, is a well known global Muslim Brotherhood figure also from Mauritania. According to an on-line biography, Sheikh Bin Bayyah was born in Eastern Mauritania and was the son of “one of the greatest scholars of his time.” According to this source, Sheikh Bin Bayyah was taught Islamic subjects by his father and in his early 20’s, was sent by the Mauritanian government to Tunis to study Islamic jurisprudence. Upon his return to Mauritania, he became a judge in the Ministry of Justice. He was also chosen to be the head of the Shariah section of the court of appeals and later to “High Authority for Religious Affairs.” Sheikh Bin Bayyah held numerous government posts including Vice-President, Prime Minister, and Permanent Secretary of the People’s Party of Mauritania. Sheikh Bin Bayyah is a member of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, the theological body headed by Youssef Qaradawi and affiliated with the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe, essentially comprising the European Muslim Brotherhood.