Gabon coup – live: Military says president Ali Bongo under house arrest after ‘seizing power’

Gabon’s coup leaders say they have placed president Ali Bongo on house arrest after claiming to have seized control of the country following the incumbent’s disputed election win.

Military leaders added that other members of Bongo’s government had been detained – hours after officials announced the president had won a third term in office.

Earlier the officers, who claimed to represent all the Central African state’s security and defence forces, declared that the results of the election had been cancelled.

All borders were closed until further notice and state institutions were dissolved, the group said on TV station Gabon 24. Just minutes after the statement gunfire could be heard ringing out in the capital Libreville.

President Bongo’s family has ruled the country that produces oil and manganese for more than half a century.

There was no immediate comment from the government of Gabon, which is a member of the oil producer group OPEC, and there were no immediate reports on the whereabouts of Bongo, who was last seen in public casting his vote on Saturday.

Key Points

Military claims to have seized power
Ali Bongo wins disputed presidential election
President under arrest – coup leaders
Gun fire heard in capital Libreville

President on house arrest – coup leaders

Coup leaders in Gabon’s military say president Bongo is under house arrest and that others in the government have been arrested.

Bongo is Gabon’s third president and has been in power since October 2009.

He is a member of the Gabonese Democratic Party.

Hundreds celebrate military coup

Hundreds of people celebrated in the centre of Gabon’s capital Libreville on Wednesday, a Reuters reporter said, after a group of senior military officers said they had seized power.

Pictures also appeared to show people celebrating in Akanda, a city about 32 km northwest of the capital Libreville.

People were seen holding the Gabon national flag aloft while dancing and cheering.

Why was the presidential election disputed?

Opposition parties accused the government of “fraud orchestrated by Ali Bongo and his supporters” after the internet was cut and a curfew imposed as the polls in the election closed on Saturday.

French media outlets France 24, RFI and TV5 Monde were among those banned from reporting and accused by the government of “a lack of objectivity and balance…in connection with the current general elections”.

A lack of international observers, the suspension of some foreign broadcasts, and the authorities’ decision to cut internet service and impose a night-time curfew nationwide after the poll had raised concerns about the transparency of the electoral process.

Bongo was the candidate for the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), the party founded by his father, Omar Bongo, who led Gabon from 1967 to 2009. After his death, his son, then the defence minister, took his place as president and has been in power ever since.