Soldiers in Gabon fail in coup attempt against absent president

Disir

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Sep 30, 2011
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NAIROBI — Soldiers in the oil-rich Central African country of Gabon seized control of the national broadcaster early Monday morning and issued a statement claiming they had deposed the country’s absent leader to “restore democracy.” Four hours later, a spokesman for Gabon’s government called the soldiers “mutineers” and “jokers” and said four out of five of them have been arrested.

Reports from news agencies said the coup attempt was accompanied by scattered gunfire in the capital, Libreville, and videos posted on social media showed armored vehicles speeding through the streets, while helicopters circled overhead.

After suffering from an apparent stroke in October, Gabon’s president Ali Bongo traveled for treatment to Saudi Arabia and then to Morocco, where he has been recovering ever since. In his first public statement since falling ill, he issued a New Year’s address from the Moroccan capital Rabat acknowledging he had been “through a difficult period” and promised to return soon.

The leaders of the attempted coup read out a statement on state radio in the pre-dawn hours denouncing Bongo. Lt. Kelly Ondo Obiang, the leader of the self-declared Patriotic Movement of the Youth of the Defense and Security Forces of Gabon, said Bongo’s New Year’s address had “reinforced doubts about the president’s ability to continue to carry out of the responsibilities of his office.”

“If you are eating, stop; if you are having a drink, stop; if you are sleeping, wake up. Wake up your neighbors . . . rise up as one and take control of the street,” he said over the radio.

By midmorning on Monday, however, it appeared the coup attempt had failed and that only one of its orchestrators remained at large.

“Calm has returned, the situation is under control,” government spokesman Guy-Bertrand Mapangou said, adding that the gunfire earlier was to control a crowd.

An official close to the president’s office told Radio France International that the strategic points in the country are under its control, including the radio and the army is seeking to resolve the situation without violence.
Soldiers in Gabon fail in coup attempt against absent president


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