Nouakchott, 15 May-(ANA)-African mediators were set to continue talks Friday with Mauritanian politicians over next month's disputed presidential election as campaigning was due to begin.
Coup leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz insisted Thursday after meeting the mediators that the presidential election set for June 6 would not be postponed, but Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade said he was optimistic a solution would be found.
"There will not be a delay, there will not be a delay," Ould Abdel Aziz emphasised to journalists after meeting Wade and the African Union envoys at his home for more than one hour.
Opponents of the August 6 military coup have said they will boycott the "masquerade" election as its outcome was a foregone conclusion.
Wade, African Union Commission chief Jean Ping and Libya's African Affairs Minister Ali Triki also met Thursday with deposed president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and Ahmed Ould Daddah, head of the Union of Democratic Forces (RFD), one of the main opposition parties.
Senegalese mediators have lobbied the junta to delay the election in order to convince the opposition to reverse its decision to boycott the polls, according to a diplomatic source.
Wade returned to Dakar late on Thursday, but said Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio and Libya's Triki would continue talks with Mauritanian political groups on Friday.(ANA)
