Army officers in Mauritania have overthrown the government and detained the northwestern African country's president and prime minister.

Mauritanian presidential candidate Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi speaks before casting his vote in Nouakchott, Mauritania, in this March 11, 2007, file photo. (Schalk van Zuydam/Associated Press)President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi is being held at the presidential palace in the capital of Nouakchott, presidential spokesman Abdoulaye Mamadouba said. The spokesman said soldiers also detained Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waqef.

In a statement made on national television early Thursday local time, the coup leaders announced their intention to hold free elections as soon as they could, but did not set a date. In the interim, the country will be governed by an 11-member council of military commanders, the statement said.

Wednesday's coup came after the president fired the country's top four military officials earlier in the day, reportedly for supporting legislators who accused the president of corruption and disagreed with his overtures to Islamic hardliners.

A short announcement read over state television said the new "state council" will be led by presidential guard chief Gen. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, one of the four fired generals and mastermind behind a bloodless coup in 2005.

The statement also said the jobs of the three other generals have been restored.

State radio and television were off the air Wednesday. No violence was immediately reported, but witnesses said soldiers were deployed throughout the capital's streets.

EU threatens to pull aid

The United States, European Union and African Union condemned the coup. The AU plans to send an envoy to the Mauritanian capital later this week.

Mauritania is located in northwest Africa and straddles the western edge of the Sahara Desert. "This was a constitutional government, democratically elected," U.S. State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said in Washington.

EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel warned that $241 million in EU aid could be at risk if the president and prime minister are not released and returned to their posts.

Legislator Mohammed Al Mukhtar told Al-Jazeera TV by phone that many of the country's citizens support the takeover attempt, describing the government as an authoritarian regime and the president as marginalizing the majority in parliament.

The poor desert country of 3.4 million had its first democratic election in two decades in 2007, when Abdallahi was elected as president.

The Arab-dominated country, which straddles the western edge of the Sahara Desert, has been racked by more than 10 coups or attempted coups since independence from France in 1960.

Aziz led the last coup in 2005, which was locally popular and ended 21 years of authoritarian rule by former president Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya.

Under fire for prisoner release, building mosque

That coup paved the way for the 2007 election in which Aziz backed Abdallahi, but later became angered when the president opened dialogue with Islamic hardliners accused of ties to an al-Qaeda-linked network believed to be operating in northern Africa.

Abdallahi also released several alleged terror suspects from prison.

Abdallahi, a devout Muslim, came under fire for using public funds to build a mosque on the presidential palace grounds. Legislators had demanded an investigation into allegations of corruption and misuse of public funds by his wife.

In May, Abdallahi appointed 12 ministers, some of whom were accused of corruption and all closely tied to former president Taya.

In June, legislators introduced a non-confidence motion against the president and called for his resignation, but he survived the vote.

Most people in Mauritania live on about $5 a day. Oil reserves were discovered in the country in late 2006 and are expected to pump out 12,000 barrels a day, a small amount that is unlikely to affect global markets.

Travel advisory for Canadians

Canada's Foreign Affairs Ministry updated its travel report on Mauritania to say that Canadians should exercise a high degree of caution while travelling there.

"The situation is currently stable, and no violence has been reported either during or following the coup," the travel report said. "Canadians should be aware that the political situation could destabilize without warning."

The report notes that Nouakchott International Airport has been closed, meaning some travellers may be forced to make alternate travel arrangements.

With files from the Associated Press