Mauritania president gives up claim to power

More than 10 months after being overthrown in a military coup, Mauritania's first freely elected president has given up his claim to power and officially resigned.

Mauritania has been ruled by a military junta since August, but President Sidi Cheikh Ould Abdallahi has maintained he is the legal president. His resignation just after midnight Saturday came after political wrangling that set the stage for a July 18 vote to choose a new leader.

As part of the deal, an interim government will take over from the junta and organize the ballot.

Abdallahi says he is "happy to be the first elected president (in Mauritania) to have consented to give up power to preserve the greater interest."

Abdallahi was elected in 2007, but toppled by coup leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.