Nouakchout , July 18 (QNA) - Mauritania Mauritania is gearing up Saturday for its first presidential election since a military coup in August 2008, the BBC reported. The man who led that coup, Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, is seen as the front-runner, along with veteran opposition leader Ahmed Ould Daddah. Hours before voting began, there were reports of shooting between police and armed men in the capital, Nouakchott, the BBC said. One man was injured in the exchange of fire and was threatening to detonate an explosives belt, the police said. The man was reported to be surrounded by security forces. Police said another man involved in the shooting had fled the scene. Mauritania has been led by a democratically elected leader for just one year since independence in 1960. The desert nation has experienced several military coups and long periods of oppressive rule. The 2007 elections won by President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi in 2007 are widely seen as the country''s only free and fair poll but he was toppled just a year later by General Abdelaziz. Following the coup, it was suspended by the African Union and many donors suspended aid. Although the country is officially an Islamic republic, Mohamed Jamil Ould Mansour is the first Islamist to stand for the presidency. The largely-desert country presents a cultural contrast, with an Arab-Berber population to the north and black Africans to the south. Many of its people are nomads. During their campaigns, the contestants highlighted unemployment, illiteracy, poverty and poor infrastructure as their priorities. (QNA)