Soon after the failed Nouakchott meeting the president dismissed Naha Mint Hamdi Ould Mouknass as minister of foreign affairs and co-operation and replaced her with the minister of defence, Hamadi Ould Hamadi. Speculation is rife that the president was displeased with Ms Mouknass as a result of the poorly organised AU meeting. Ahmedou Ould Idey Ould Mohamed Radhi replaced Mr Hamadi as defence minister. Mr Abdel Aziz also replaced the minister of health, demoted the minister of finance, Amedi Camara, after only two months in the job, and appointed the former head of the national mining company, Société nationale industrielle de Mauritanie (SNIM), as the head of the newly constituted Ministry of Energy, Oil and Mines. It is unclear whether these appointments indicate any discord within the government as a result of sympathy with the February 25th Movement. Such internal disunity is an unlikely explanation given the limited number of desertions by officials. High-level civil servants, military leaders and diplomats have defected elsewhere in the Arab world in a show of solidarity with protestors. So far in Mauritania the highest-level casualty of the protests has been the mayor of Aoujeft in central Adrar region, and even that may have had more to do with the handling of a severe outbreak of Rift Valley Fever (a viral infection of animals that is commonly spread through mosquitoes and may also affect humans).