President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya was ousted by the Armed Forces of Mauritania and replaced by the Military Council for Justice and Democracy (CMJD), headed by Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, while Taya was in Saudi Arabia attending the funeral of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia.

[3] Motives for the coup included Taya's alignment with America and being one of only three countries in the Arab world to start formal diplomatic ties with Israel.

[5] In an official message on Mauritanian television, the coup leaders declared, "The armed forces and security forces have unanimously decided to put a definitive end to the totalitarian acts in the past few years of the defunct regime under which our people have suffered greatly in the last few years.

The then President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, denounced the coup, stating "the days of tolerating military governance in our sub-region or anywhere [are] long gone".

[6] The coup ended Ould Taya's repressive regime, which was characterized by a make-believe democracy heavily reliant on tribal affiliations and a powerful security apparatus.