Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
Mansour first became involved in politics through student unions and activism in the 1980s. In the early 1990s he helped found the Islamic Front, alongside a number of Islamic leaders. The group was denied an application to form a political party by the Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya government on the grounds that the party tried was seeking a monopoly on religion.