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Gabon Coup Celebrated- Ali Bongo Under House Arrest

Hattip over to Gallier2 who left us all an interesting comment

The western backed Gabon government has been overthrown- There was a recent election, the results showed the challenger Ondo Ossa had won. However Ali Bongo overthrew the results and claimed the win and the power! Gallier has extended family present in the area.

Gallier’s comment

gallier2says:

Edit

To something completely different.
There’s an ongoing putsch in Gabon. Ali Bongo has fled the country to Morocco. There were presidential elections last week and most polls showed the runner up (Albert Ondo Ossa) as victorious. Bongo nonetheless proclaimed victory which triggered the military to annul the election result, to shut down completely the gouvernment. The Internet and phone lines had been suspended last week (by Bongo). It has been re-established. Afaict (and afamwct (as far as my wife can tell) she just was awake whole night in contact with family) no violence occured yet. I have no idea what France plans to do, as Gabon was the last colony that seemed part of the “Françafrique” network.
People in Gabon are fed up by 60 years of Bongo family reign. I have no idea, who is behind the putschists though (color revolution? brics? no idea). If I manage to find something I will inform you.
PS: my mail is a scoop, European media are still stuck on the “Bongo won the election” and only slowly start to mention the military coup.

Gallier2 also left this!

gallier2says:

Edit

I found an article praising Ondo Ossa on the BRICS news portal.
http://infobrics.org/post/39016/

Albert Ondo Ossa is the most rational candidate for the leadership of Gabon. This was stated by the President of the Foundation for the Development of Modern Diplomacy Amram Petrosian in his comment on the course of the presidential election campaign in the republic.
Thank You for the scoop Gallier2!

Some relevant points

Gabon is another former French colony- Gabon has reserves of uranium, oil and gas.
The army of Gabon took power in the country and announced the dissolution of the current government.
The country’s borders are closed until further notice.

A smattering of reports

ITV

Military officers in Gabon said they were seizing power in order to overturn the results of the country’s presidential election.

The announcement came hours after the central African country’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba was declared winner of an election deemed fraudulent by the opposition.

Within minutes of the announcement on Wednesday, gunfire was heard in the centre of the capital, Libreville. ( I’d suggest celebratory gunfire from the looks of things)

The coup attempt was announced by a dozen uniformed soldiers on state TV later the same morning.

The group, claiming to represent “defence and security forces” said it would “dissolve all institutions of the republic” and aims to “defend peace by putting an end to the regime in place”.

The officers said election results would be voided and the country’s borders closed until further notice.

The president is now under house arrest, the group added in a later state TV broadcast.

European news

European Union defence ministers are to discuss the situation in Gabon, foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday, adding that a coup, if confirmed, would heap more instability on the region.

“The whole area, starting with Central African Republic, then Mali, then Burkina Faso, now Niger, maybe Gabon, it’s in a very difficult situation and certainly the ministers … have to have a deep thought on what is going on there and how we can improve our policy in respect with these countries,” he said.

“This is a big issue for Europe,” he added.

The signs of a coup in Gabon come just weeks after members of the presidential guard in Niger seized power and established a junta.

The people of Gabon look positively ecstatic! They are celebrating. Out on the streets cheering.


I’ll link to some twitter accounts providing visuals

Elle Vit Belle

Link @Sen.Yusuf Datti Baba Ahmed

2 replies on “Gabon Coup Celebrated- Ali Bongo Under House Arrest”

The silence in French media about the coup is deafening. The twitters start to notice. This said, French authority knew already yesterday what was going on as they had sent 4 planes to evacuate Frenchmen.

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