Mokhtar Ould Daddah

Born Dec. 25, 1924, in Butilimit. Mauritanian statesman and politician. A lawyer by education and profession.

From 1942 to 1948, Daddah was a translator in the French colonial administration in Mauritania. After graduating in 1955 from the law faculty of the Sorbonne he began to work as a lawyer in Dakar. In 1957 and 1958 he was vice-president and in 1958 and 1959 president of the Governing Council in Mauritania. From June 1959 to August 1961 he was prime minister and minister of internal affairs. On Aug. 20, 1961, he became president of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. From 1958 to 1961 he was general secretary of the Party of Mauritanian Regroupment. Since December 1961 he has been general secretary of the Party of the Mauritanian People, the sole party in the country after the merger of the Party of Mauritanian Regroupment and other parties.