Former Mauritanian president jailed for 15 years following appeal

Mauritania's President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz attends the closing session ofÊSudan's National Dialogue at the Friendship Hall in Khartoum, Sudan, October 10, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo

NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) - Mauritania's former president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, was on Wednesday sentenced to 15 years in prison on corruption charges following an appeal to a Nouakchott court by both the state and Aziz's defence against a sentence imposed in 2023.

Abdel Aziz led the West African country for a decade after coming to power in a 2008 coup, followed by an election a year later. He was an ally of Western powers fighting Islamist militants in the Sahel region.