Press Release

Mr. Mark M. Boulware, Ambassador of United States to Mauritania, presided over the opening ceremony of a seminar on "Civil-Military Relations in a Democracy", on April 20 at Khaima Hotel. The seminar was organized by the Mauritanian Ministry of Defense and U.S. Embassy in Mauritania.

The five-day seminar was designed to strengthen relations between various democratic institutions in Mauritania, civil society, and the armed and security forces.

Participants in the Nouakchott seminar representing different governmental institutions and non-governmental organizations, discussed such themes as:

- The Army, Civil Society and Democracy
- The issue of civilian control over the army
- the Roles and missions of the armed forces
- The Legislature
- The budget
- The Army and the Media
- Civic Education

The seminar was organized is headed by the Center for Civil-Military Relations (CCMR) of Monterrey, California.

Nouakchott, April 25, 2008