Mauritania president says running for second term in June election

Mauritania President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani said Wednesday he would run for a second term in presidential elections due in June. Ghazouani, 67, has been at the helm of the vast West African country since2019 and provided stability in the Sahel region, which faces rising jihadism. Last year, his El Insaf party won a landslide victory in legislative elections -- taking 107 of the 176 seats in the National Assembly, well ahead
of the Islamist party Tewassoul, which won 11 seats. The well-known anti-slavery activist and opponent Biram Dah Ould Abeid, who was a runner-up in the last presidential election, also announced his candidacy on Wednesday.