A spokesperson for the government of Gabon has said the
political situation in the country is "under control", following an
attempted coup.
Guy-Bertrand Mapangou told the BBC that four of the rebels
had been arrested by the authorities. A fifth is on the run.
Junior officers claimed they seized power "to restore
democracy" in oil-rich Gabon, where the ailing leader's family has ruled
for 50 years.
Tanks and armed vehicles could be seen in the capital
Libreville.
Soldiers in Gabon had taken over state radio in an
attempted coup, calling for the people to “rise up” while the president, Ali
Bongo, is abroad recovering from a stroke.
The Bongo family has ruled Gabon since 1967, except for
four months in 2009 after Ali Bongo’s father, Omar, died.
The message was read at 4.30am (0530 GMT) on Monday at the
state television headquarters in Libreville, the capital, and simultaneously
filmed for social media.
Shots were heard in the area at about the same time as a
young man identifying himself as Lt Kelly Ondo Obiang and the deputy commander
of the Republican Guard, as well as the head of a group called the Patriotic
Youth Movement of the Gabonese Defence and Security Forces, began to read the
message.
“The eagerly awaited day has arrived when the army has
decided to put itself on the side of the people in order to save Gabon from
chaos,” he said, flanked by two gun-toting men, all in the uniform and green
berets of the powerful Republican Guard, which is usually tasked with
protecting the president
“If you are eating, stop; if you are having a drink, stop;
if you are sleeping, wake up. Wake up your neighbours … rise up as one and take
control of the street,” he said, calling on Gabonese to occupy the country’s
airports, public buildings and media organs.
A witness told Reuters a crowd of about 300 people had
gathered in support of the attempted coup at the state TV headquarters, where
soldiers fired tear gas to disperse them.
Bongo became ill in October while on a visit to Saudi
Arabia. Rather than going home, he went to recuperate in Morocco in November,
where he gave a New Year’s Day statement in which he admitted he had been
“through a difficult period, as sometimes happens in life”. He said he was
preparing to return “soon”.
Obiang said Bongo’s speech, in which he slurred some words
and appeared unable to move his right arm, had “reinforced doubts about the
president’s ability to continue to carry out the responsibilities of his
office”.
Omar Bongo squandered much of Gabon’s vast oil wealth and
kept close ties with the former colonial power, France, in a system known as
Françafrique. Ali Bongo tried to set himself apart from his father but lost any
moral high ground at the last presidential election. Guardian
0 comments:
Post a Comment