# Haidalla seizes power (4 January 1980)

URL: https://allhistories.com/mauritania/timeline/1980-haidalla-seizes-power
Location: Nouakchott, Mauritania
Themes: main-event

On 4 January 1980 Prime Minister Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla removed Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Louly and became head of state. He had become prime minister on 31 May 1979, a few days after his predecessor died in a plane crash, and he kept the post until December 1980, when a civilian, Sid'Ahmed Ould Bneijara, was appointed. Britannica gives only the month, January 1980, for the change. Wikipedia's page on the earlier head of state describes it as another coup. Haidalla had been one of the officers behind the 6 April 1979 coup and was the main strongman of the military committee during Mauritania's withdrawal from Western Sahara. His rule lasted until 12 December 1984. It brought Islamic law, a formal ban on slavery and a coup attempt in 1981. Taya, who was appointed prime minister in April 1981, later overthrew him. Haidalla returned to politics as a presidential candidate in 2003 and was arrested twice. At this point in the timeline (1980), Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla (4 Jan 1980 – 12 Dec 1984) was head of state and chairman of the Military Committee for National Salvation until his removal on 12 December 1984.

## Why it matters
Haidalla's four years of rule combined Islamisation, a first formal abolition of slavery and a break with Morocco. They ended in the coup that brought the long Taya era.

Ruler at the Time: [Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla](https://allhistories.com/mauritania/rulers/mohamed-khouna-ould-haidalla-1980)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Khouna_Ould_Haidallah)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mohamed-Khouna-Ould-Haidalla)
- [Wikipedia — Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Louly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Mahmoud_Ould_Louly)