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Gabon president Bongo ‘under house arrest’ as military seized power
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LIBREVILLE - Twelve Gabonese soldiers take over television channel’s broadcast to announce they are dissolving ‘all the institutions of the republic’.
Gabon’s military says it has seized power in the central African nation and placed president Ali Bongo under house arrest, a move that threatens the end of more than five decades in power for the Bongo family.
A dozen soldiers appeared on national TV on Wednesday to denounce the general election results that had been issued a short while earlier, in which Mr Bongo was declared the winner.
Around the time of the announcement, gunfire was heard in the centre of the Gabon capital Libreville.
The military said other politicians had also been placed under house arrest.
Hundreds of people took to the streets in Libreville to celebrate the end of Mr Bongo’s government amid widespread frustration over rising costs of living and other issues.
“Thank you, army. Finally, we’ve been waiting a long time for this moment,” a resident named Yollande Okomo told the Associated Press, standing in front of soldiers from Gabon‘s elite republican guard.
The soldiers who appeared on TV early on Wednesday said they were from “the Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions” and that they represented all of Gabon’s security and defence forces.
A soldier said they were dissolving “all the institutions of the republic”. “We have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the current regime,” he said.
The military announced all borders of the country have been closed until further notice.
The apparent coup came shortly after Mr Bongo was declared the winner in a recent presidential election, handing him a third term in power. The results of the elections had been delayed since Saturday as the opposition claimed it was marred by fraud.
The Gabonese Election Centre (CGE) announced that Mr Bongo secured just under two-thirds of votes cast.
The seizure of power by the Gabonese army would end the Bongo family’s almost 55-years grip on power in the country.
Mr Bongo took the reins of the oil-rich and poverty-stricken nation in 2009 after the death of his father Omar Bango, who ruled the country for 42 years.
The government has so far issued no comment on Wednesday morning’s developments.
Concerns about the transparency of the electoral process had been raised in the absence of international observers, with the government shutting down internet services and enforcing a nationwide curfew at night following the election.
Dissatisfaction with the Bongo family’s long hold on power has been steadily increasing within Gabon, a major oil producer and member of OPEC. Violent unrest erupted in the country following Mr Bongo’s victory in the 2016 election. In 2019, a coup attempt was barely thwarted by his government and military leaders were sent to jail.
The European Union’s defence ministers are to discuss the latest situation in Gabon, as the bloc said the attempted coup will only add to instability for the region.
“If this is confirmed, it is another military coup which increases instability in the whole region,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, speaking at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Toledo.
“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.
He said instability in the region is a “big issue for Europe”.
The French prime minister, meanwhile, said they are following the developments in Gabon very closely.
Elisabeth Borne made the comments without providing further details as she addressed a meeting of ambassadors in Paris.
Russia said it was also closely following the developments in the African nation.
The election commission head Michel Stephane Bonda said Mr Bongo won the presidential election with 64.27 per cent of the vote and his challenger, Albert Ondo Ossa, secured 30.77 per cent of the votes.
Mr Bongo’s campaign had rejected the opposition party’s allegations of electoral irregularities.
French mining company Eramet said that it is suspending all operations in the country in the wake of Wednesday’s events.
A coup in Gabon would represent the eighth in west and central Africa since 2020. In that period there have been military takeovers in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad and most recently Niger.
West African bloc says 'we are going into Niger' if all else fails
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By Maxwell Akalaare Adombila and Boureima Balima
ACCRA/NIAMEY - The West African bloc ECOWAS stands ready to intervene militarily in Niger should diplomatic efforts to reverse a coup there fail, a senior official told army chiefs who were meeting in Ghana on Thursday to discuss the details of a standby force.
Niger military officers deposed President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 and have defied calls from the United Nations, ECOWAS and Western powers to reinstate him, prompting West African heads of state to order the standby force to be assembled.
"Let no one be in doubt that if everything else fails, the valiant forces of West Africa...are ready to answer to the call of duty," ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Abdel-Fatau Musah said.
"By all means available, constitutional order will be restored in the country," he told assembled defence chiefs from member countries, listing past ECOWAS deployments in Gambia, Liberia and elsewhere as examples of readiness.
Niger has strategic importance beyond West Africa because of its role as a hub for foreign troops involved in the fight against Islamist insurgents in the Sahel region and its uranium and oil reserves.
Western countries fear the junta could follow the lead of neighbouring Mali, where the military government threw out French troops and instead invited in mercenaries from Russia's Wagner group, which has welcomed the coup in Niger.
In Niger's capital Niamey, where large crowds have taken part in protests against ECOWAS and in favour of the coup leaders, residents rejected the idea of an outside intervention to reinstate the elected president and civilian government.
"I'm not afraid because I know our armed forces are well prepared to deal with any eventuality," said radio technician Omar Yaye.
"ECOWAS is manipulated by foreign powers. When we see the reactions of France since the coup and especially the harshness of ECOWAS I can only think that these are coordinated actions between France and ECOWAS," he said, echoing anti-French rhetoric used by the junta since the coup.
'CAT AND MOUSE'
France, Niger's former colonial ruler, has denied the junta's accusation that it was seeking to destabilise the country or that it had violated its airspace. It has said it supported ECOWAS efforts to restore constitutional order.
French troops, along with U.S., German and Italian forces, are present in Niger as part of international efforts to combat the Islamist insurgents who have caused thousands of deaths and forced millions to flee their homes over the past decade.
Musah rejected the accusation that ECOWAS was being manipulated by France or any other outside power.
"What they forget is that ECOWAS is a rules-based organisation. We have our protocols, we have our norms and we are ready to protect them," he said.
"That's why the heads of state are saying if push comes to shove we are going into Niger with our own contingents, own equipment and our own resources to make sure we restore constitutional order. If other democracy-loving partners want to support us they are welcome," he said.
Musah accused the Niger coup leaders of "playing cat-and-mouse" with ECOWAS by refusing to meet with its envoys and seeking justifications for their takeover of power.
He said most of the bloc's 15 member states were prepared to participate in the standby force that could intervene in Niger. The exceptions were those also under military rule - Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea - and tiny Cape Verde.
Musah criticised the junta's announcement that it had elements to put Bazoum, who is being detained, on trial for treason. The United Nations, European Union and ECOWAS have all expressed concerns over the conditions of his detention.
"The irony of it is that somebody who is in a hostage situation himself...is being charged with treason. When did he commit that high treason is everybody’s guess," Musah said.
West African regional group weighs next steps on Niger
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ABUJA - West African leaders were weighing their next moves on Saturday as they seek to overturn a military coup in Niger that has rocked the region but also triggered a groundswell of support in the country.
Niger's military last month imprisoned President Mohamed Bazoum and assumed power, drawing condemnation from international powers and raising the spectre of further conflict in the impoverished Sahel region of West Africa which is already overrun by a deadly Islamist insurgency.
The regional bloc ECOWAS on Thursday decided to activate a task force drawing on troops from across the region for a possible military intervention to undo what was the seventh coup in West and Central Africa in three years.
At stake is not just the fate of Niger - a major uranium producer and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamists - but also the concerns of global powers with key strategic interests in the semi-desert zone.
U.S., French, German and Italian troops are stationed in Niger to repel local affiliates of al Qaeda and Islamic State that have killed thousands and displaced millions across the Sahel.
Western powers fear Russian influence could grow stronger if the junta in Niger follows Mali's example by ejecting Western troops and inviting in mercenaries from Russia's Wagner Group.
Thousands of people gathered in Niger's capital on Friday to demonstrate in favour of the coup. The rally began at a French military base in the capital Niamey, then protesters with signs and flags spread onto surrounding streets.
"Long live Russia," one protester's sign read. "Down with France.... Down with ECOWAS," referring to the Economic Community of West African States.
Regional army chiefs were set to meet in the coming days. It was not yet clear how long the ECOWAS force would take to assemble, how big it would be and if it would actually invade. The organisation stressed that all options were on the table and it hoped for a peaceful resolution.
Security analysts said the force could take weeks to set up, potentially leaving room for negotiations.
Meanwhile, the African Union, the European Union, the United States and the United Nations all said they were increasingly worried about Bazoum's detention conditions.
The U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Friday said the conditions were "rapidly deteriorating" and could amount to a violation of international human rights law.
ECOWAS prepares standby force for possible Niger intervention
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By Edward Mcallister and Anait Miridzhanian
ABUJA, NIGERIA - West African nations on Friday worked on plans for a possible military intervention in Niger following an army coup there although they have not given up hope of a peaceful resolution to a crisis that has shaken the region.
The Nigerien military ousted former President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, the seventh coup in West and Central Africa in three years and an action that raised the spectre of more unrest in an impoverished region battling an Islamist insurgency.
The regional bloc ECOWAS ordered the activation of a standby force on Thursday for possible use against the new junta, saying all options including military action were on the table.
It was not clear how big the force would be, if it would actually invade, and which countries would contribute. Security analysts said an ECOWAS force could take weeks or longer to assemble, potentially leaving room for negotiations.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday after a summit of its heads of state in the Nigerian capital Abuja, Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said he considered the detention of Bazoum "a terrorist act" and promised to supply a battalion of troops to the force.
Asked how many troops that would involve, an Ivorian army spokesperson said a battalion consisted of 850 troops. Other countries are yet to say how many troops they could provide, if at all.
The coup in uranium-rich Niger, one of the world's poorest countries but a key ally for the West in the fight against Islamist militants in the Sahel region, was triggered by internal politics but has repercussions far beyond its borders.
U.S., French, German and Italian troops are stationed in Niger as part of the fight against the Islamist insurgency.
ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) the United Nations and Western countries are putting pressure on the junta to stand down, while military governments in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso have said they will defend it.
ECOWAS said on Thursday that all its diplomatic efforts so far had been "defiantly repelled" by the junta.
France said it fully backed all the conclusions of the ECOWAS meeting. But it stayed clear of outlining any concrete support it could give to any potential intervention.
Reiterating support for the efforts by ECOWAS, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States would hold the junta accountable for the safety of Bazoum and his family. The EU also called for his immediate release.
"President Bazoum has dedicated his life to improve conditions for the people of Niger. Nothing justifies such a treatment," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.
Human Rights Watch said it had spoken to Bazoum this week and that the ousted president, who is being held captive by the junta with his wife and son, had told them that his family's treatment in custody was "inhuman and cruel".
"My son is sick, has a serious heart condition, and needs to see a doctor," HRW quoted Bazoum as telling them. "They’ve refused to let him get medical treatment."
HRW said Bazoum told them he had had no electricity since Aug. 2 and had not been allowed to see family and friends who wanted to bring them supplies.
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