President's ouster a 'fait accompli', says Gaddafi

AFP - Deposed Mauritanian president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi must "accept a fait accompli," Libyan leader and AU head Moamer Kadhafi said here, following a mediation trip to Mauritania.

"The military will not permit him from regaining his post..so he must accept a fait accompli," Kadhafi said at a banquet at the presidential palace in Niamey late Saturday.

Recounting a conversation he held with Mauritania's ex-leader and first democratically elected president, Kadhafi added: "He told me, 'I was the elected president. If they want to restore power to me, OK. If not, I will stay in my village.'

"He well knows that (restoring power) is impossible, so he will remain in his village," Kadhafi added.

Ould Cheikh Abdallahi has sharply criticised Kadhafi's mediation as biased, and a "de facto recognition of the putsch" last August.

The Libyan leader sparked controversy when he wrapped up a mediation visit to Mauritania Thursday by saying he supported lifting AU sanctions against the ruling junta.

"The president cannot but express his deep disappointment and his profound bitterness," Ould Cheikh Abdallahi said in a statement on Saturday.

The international community roundly condemned the August 6 coup and the AU slapped sanctions on junta members, including a travel ban and a freeze of bank assets.

The military rulers have announced they will hold new presidential elections on June 6.