Gabon coup attempt failed

Soldiers in Gabon took over state radio in a coup attempt on Monday, but the government said four of the plotters had been arrested and that normalcy would be restored in the Central African nation.

A fifth suspect was on the run, Reuters reported, after soldiers announced plans for a “national council of restoration,” in the oil-rich country, where the ruling Bongo family has been dogged by accusations of corruption and fraud during nearly a half-century in power.

Government soldiers swarmed the streets of the capital, Libreville, guarding the national radio and TV stations, and military tanks and armed vehicles were visible, but things appeared to be returning to normal. 

The government is in place, a government spokesman, Guy-Bertrand Mapangou, told France 24.

The institutions are in place.

President Ali Bongo Ondimba has been out of Gabon since October while receiving medical treatment for what many believe was a stroke he suffered while attending a conference in Saudi Arabia. He had sought to reassure the nation he was fit during a New Year’s Eve speech televised from Morocco, where he is recuperating.

 

Nytimes