Mauritania will hold a presidential election on June 6 this year, the Mauritanian News Agency quoted a government statement as saying on Friday.

Mauritanian State Council President Gen. Mohamed Ould Abdela Aziz has asked the government to gear up for the election, according to reports reaching here from the country's capital of Nouakchott.

President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, who was overthrown by Gen. Aziz, his former presidential guard, in a bloodless coup in August, has said he could accept in principle early presidential and parliamentary elections, but insisted that the military junta must stand down.

There is speculation in the political circle that Aziz may join the presidential race, as he has said that a soldier out of uniform should be allowed to run for the presidency.

President Abdallahi was kept under house arrest after the coup. Under international pressure, the military junta transferred him from the place of detention in Nouakchott to his home town in November.

The president was released on Dec. 21. But he still remains under the close watch of the military junta.

(Xinhua News Agency January 24, 2009)