August 24, 2008 -- Mauritanian Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef was rearrested by General Abdel Aziz's military junta on Thursday (August 21st) in Nouadhibou and has been placed under house arrest in his native village of Achram, press reports said on Friday. El Waghef was arrested for violating new regulations from the junta's State Council by leaving Nouakchott without permission to attend an anti-coup demonstration in Nouadhibou. Mauritanian NGOs and political parties opposed to the August 6th coup d'état denounced El Waghef's detention and both the European Commission and the French government issued statements on Friday describing his arrest as "arbitrary", "unacceptable" and calling for his "immediate and unconditional release".