Coup Leaders Release Mauritania Prime Minister

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania — Mauritania's prime minister was released yesterday as junta leaders bowed to international pressure after a coup that prompted America to cut off more than $20 million in aid.

But the junta was still holding the country's president and said it had no immediate plans to release him, indicating that although the military is willing to make some conciliatory gestures, power remains firmly in their hands.

Yesterday's announcement said the army-led "state council" had freed Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waqef and three other key allies of President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.