The 1979 Mauritanian coup d'état was a military coup in Mauritania which took place on 6 April 1979.[1] The coup was led by Colonel Ahmed Ould Bouceif and Colonel Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla, who seized power from the President, Colonel Mustafa Ould Salek, and the 20-member ruling Military Committee for National Recovery (CMRN), a military junta which was created following an earlier coup in 1978.