NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania

A Mauritanian parliament committee on Friday announced launching investigation into the rule of former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. 

Lawmakers from all parliamentary blocs formed the committee to probe the term of Aziz, who came into power after staging a military coup in 2008.

The committee welcomed any "information or documents that assist in the investigation," vowing to inform the public of the progress of its work "whenever necessary..."

Last December, 30 of 157 lawmakers in the National Assembly requested to form the panel after calls from opposition parties to investigate "corruption" during the former president's tenure.

Aziz was elected as president in 2009 and 2013. He did not run for the presidency in the June 2019 election, which Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, the incumbent head of state, won.

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is the eleventh largest sovereign state in Africa.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat