NOUAKCHOTT, August 10, 2008 (AFP) - Envoys from international and African organisations converged on the Mauritanian capital Sunday to join forces in seeking a resolution to the country's crisis, four days after a military coup.

'The solution to the problem rests solely with the Mauritanians, we are going to help them to reach an agreement,' the Arab League's special envoy, Ahmed Ben Hilli, told AFP on Sunday.

He said he would meet heads of the delegations from the United Nations and the African Union in Nouakchott to 'find a common position' on dealing with the crisis in the largely desert west African nation.

On Wednesday Mauritanian General Ould Abdel Aziz, the former head of the presidential guard, led a coup ousting Mauritania's first democratically elected president after he tried to sack senior officers.

President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi is currently being held by the military in a villa and the AU's envoy Ramtane Lamamra has requested to visit him.

Lamamra met Sunday with Aziz, who along with an 11-member military council is installed in the presidential palace where since Friday he has been meeting with international delegations.

'We want to prevent Mauritania from falling into a vicious cycle, where the crisis deepens and the international community is led to take measures that would be unfortunate for the lives and the future of the Mauritanian people,' Lamamra said after meeting with the coup leader.

The AU on Friday said it was suspending Mauritania from the pan-African group until it returned to constitutional government.

Lamamra, commissioner for peace and security, said the AU wants to help the west African nation through a difficult time and preserve its democratic institutions and the rule of law.

The UN special representative for west Africa, Said Djinnit, held talks with Aziz on Saturday but did not disclose the details of the conversation.

Before the meeting Djinnit said that the UN 'joins other institutions in calling for the return of constitutional order' and urged that the political disputes be resolved within the democratic institutions.

For his part, the 52-year-old general who overthrew the government said over the weekend that he had warned Abdallahi there would be consequences for trying to sack the military leadership.

'I telephoned him (Abdallahi) personally to explain to him the gravity of his decree and suggest he postpone it to avoid the worst,' Aziz said in an interview on the Al-Jazeera television channel.

Aziz, a former strong supporter of Abdallahi for president, also accused the ousted leader of corruption, saying the military had compromising documents signed by him.

Faced with international condemnation, the new military junta has promised to quickly hold 'fair and transparent' elections.

The party of the ousted president, the National Pact for Democracy and Development (PNDD), said Sunday it has been given permission to reopen its offices which had been closed by police during the coup.

The PNDD is part of the group fighting to restore democracy and free their captive president.

The 2007 elections that Abdallahi won were hailed as a model of democracy for Africa, following a three-year transition after a bloodless coup in August 2005.

Mauritania had been facing a political crisis after 48 members of parliament walked out on the ruling party on Monday, less than two weeks after a vote of no confidence in the government prompted a cabinet reshuffle.