Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef

Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef (; born 1960 ) is a Mauritanian politician. He was appointed as Prime Minister of Mauritania on 6 May 2008, serving until the August 2008 coup d'état. Yahya is also President of the National Pact for Democracy and Development (ADIL), and he was Secretary-General of the Presidency from 2007 to 2008.

Biography Yahya was born in Moudjéria, Mauritania. He was Director-General of the Mauritanian Gas Company (Societé Mauritanienne de Gaz, SOMAGAZ) from January 2003 to August 2003 and then Director of the Banc d'Arguin National Park from September 2003 He served in that capacity until April 2005, at which point he became Director-General of Air Mauritanie, remaining in that post until December 2006. On 5 January 2008, Yahya was elected as President of ADIL, a political party that was formed to support Sidi Mohamed, at the end of the party's constitutive congress.

Prime Minister Zeine Ould Zeidane resigned on 6 May 2008, and Sidi Mohamed appointed Yahya to succeed him on the same day. the opposition National Rally for Reform and Development (Tewassoul) also announced that it had decided to participate in the government on 10 May. However, the President of the Rally of Democratic Forces (RFD), Ahmed Ould Daddah, said on 7 May that the RFD—the main opposition party—would not participate; the President of the Alliance for Justice and Democracy/Movement for Renewal, Ibrahima Moctar Sarr, also said on 10 May that his party would not participate due to policy differences.

On 11 May, Yahya's Government was named; it had 30 members, including 24 ministers, and 12 of its members had previously served under Zeidane. Members of ADIL accounted for almost two-thirds of Yahya's government and held most of the key ministries. Four members of the government were from the two opposition parties which decided to participate. Most of these deputies were from ADIL,

President Sidi Mohamed, speaking on 2 July, called on the deputies to reconsider. He said that the motion was surprising because it was initiated by deputies belonging to the party that headed the government,

Yahya said following his reappointment on 3 July that he wanted to form a government of "broad consensus". An opposition coalition composed of a dozen parties denounced Yahya's reappointment on 7 July. On 8 July, Yahya announced that no opposition parties would be included in the new government, thereby excluding the UFP and Tewassoul.

The new Government was named on 15 July; there were 30 members of this government,

2008 coup d'etat

On 6 August 2008, Yahya was arrested in a military coup d'état along with President Sidi Mohamed and the Interior minister. The coup plotters were top security forces who had been fired by Abdallahi earlier in the day; these included General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, General Mohamed Ould Al-Ghazwani, General Philippe Swikri, and Brigadier General (Aqid) Ahmed Ould Bakri. Member of parliament Mohammed Al Mukhtar claimed popular support for the coup, saying that Sidi Mohamed behaved in an "authoritarian" manner and "marginalized the majority in parliament." Yahya was reportedly held at an army barracks immediately after the coup.

Yahya and three other high-ranking officials were released from custody by the military on 11 August, while Sidi Mohamed remained in custody. A few hours later, Yahya spoke before a rally of thousands of people and expressed defiance toward the junta, saying that Mauritanians did not accept its rule and urging the people to continue struggling to restore Sidi Mohamed to power.

Yahya said in an interview with Abu Dhabi TV on 20 August that President Abdallahi had dismissed the senior officers because they had already been planning to seize power on 9 August. He subsequently travelled to Nouadhibou in northern Mauritania in order to participate in an anti-coup protest there, but was arrested upon arrival on 21 August 2008. He was reportedly arrested because he left Nouakchott without the junta's permission.

In November 2008, Yahya and four others were charged with intentionally bankrupting Air Mauritanie while Yahya was its Director-General. In early December, bail for Yahya and his co-defendants was set at 100 million ouguiyas; this was reportedly the highest level of bail ever set by a court in Mauritania. Yahya was also charged with corruption in a case involving spoiled food; the bail set in that case was five million ouguiyas.

Dozens of protesters called for Yahya's release in a demonstration near the Supreme Court on 29 April 2009. The police broke up the protest. Subsequently, in negotiations between the junta and the opposition, the opposition demanded Yahya's release as a condition for an agreement. After a deal was reached, the junta finally released Yahya on 4 June 2009. He was greeted by a crowd as he emerged from the Dar Naim prison in Nouakchott.