Coup Attempt in Gabon Is Thwarted, Government Says
A still from video of soldiers on Gabon state radio on Monday. “The army has decided to put itself on the side of the people in order to save Gabon from chaos,” they said.
Credit via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images.
By Dionne Searcey
New York Times
Jan. 7, 2019
DAKAR, Senegal — The government of Gabon quickly beat back a coup attempt on Monday, killing two suspects and arresting eight others after the plotters took over the state radio station in the Central African nation and announced plans for a “national council of restoration,” in a country where one family has held the presidency for almost half a century.
President Ali Bongo Ondimba has been out of Gabon since October, receiving medical treatment for what many believe was a stroke he had while attending a conference in Saudi Arabia. His absence apparently created what the coup plotters perceived as an opportunity.
Shots were heard Monday in the capital, Libreville, but government soldiers soon swarmed the streets and stormed the radio station. Military tanks and armed vehicles were visible, and the authorities sought to project an image of normalcy.
Guy-Bertrand Mapangou, a government spokesman, said Monday afternoon that order had been restored. He said the two suspects had died in the course of being arrested.
A video clip of three of the coup plotters at the radio station showed that two were armed, and each wore the military fatigues of junior officers. The government is investigating the group’s motives, Mr. Mapangou said.
The plotters appeared to be young, low-ranking officers who did not seem to have a meticulous plan. Radio workers said one of them had disrobed a station employee and changed into civilian clothing before fleeing.
Mr. Bongo’s absence has not had a particularly negative effect on the oil-rich country. Its economic growth is slowing, but in past weeks the prime minister has been in charge and daily life has carried on.
Gabon has been relatively stable in recent decades, but analysts said the coup attempt was a sign of underlying unrest.
“Even if it was stupid, there’s significantly more political upset in Gabon then there has been,” said Eric Benjaminson, a former United States ambassador to the country, who left in 2013. “It’s a marker for something.”
“Mr. Bongo needs to return to Gabon,” he said, “and do something positive for the country.”
In a New Year’s Eve speech broadcast from Morocco, where Mr. Bongo, 59, was recuperating, the president sought to reassure the nation that he was fit.
“It is true that I have been through a difficult period, as sometimes happens in life,” he said. “Today, as you can see, I am better and I am preparing to meet you again soon.”
Observers noted that the president had slurred some words and did not move his right arm.
The first indication that something was amiss in Libreville on Monday came early in the morning, when songs from the campaign of Jean Ping, Mr. Bongo’s chief opponent in the 2016 presidential election, were broadcast over national radio.
A call to the station during the broadcast was answered by Lt. Kelly Ondo Obiang, the leader of the self-declared Patriotic Movement of the Defense and Security Forces of Gabon, who said he would announce a coup shortly. He went on the air and did just that, while station employees were held hostage during the broadcast.
Lieutenant Obiang said that Mr. Bongo’s speech from afar had “reinforced doubts about the president’s ability to continue to carry out of the responsibilities of his office.”
He continued: “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. If you are eating, stop; if you are having a drink, stop; if you are sleeping, wake up. Wake up your neighbors.”
With tensions running high after recent presidential elections in nearby Democratic Republic of Congo, President Trump said on Friday that he had sent about 80 troops to Gabon in case the election dispute made it necessary to evacuate Americans.
A spokesman for the United States Africa Command said that American troops in Libreville “had no involvement whatsoever” with either the coup plotters or the Gabonese military and government during the coup attempt.
Mr. Bongo’s family has long been criticized for enriching itself with proceeds from the country’s oil and mineral wealth while much of its population lived in poverty.
And Mr. Bongo’s time as president has been accompanied by criticism that he has carried out fraudulent elections, sometimes to violent ends, in hopes of hanging onto power. His father, Omar, was president for 42 years before dying in office in 2009.
When Mr. Bongo was first elected to replace his father, logistical issues during an unanticipated vote led to accusations of irregularities. In the 2016 contest, Mr. Bongo edged out his opponent, Mr. Ping, but the election was marred by accusations of fraudulent vote counting.
Protesters at the time set fire to Parliament, and the presidential guard was accused of attacking Mr. Ping’s headquarters, killing two people and wounding several others.
Yet Mr. Bongo’s actions to protect his nation’s relatively untouched forests, savannas and coastlines, all teeming with wildlife, earned praise from conservationists. He is a fixture at international climate change conferences and has created one of the largest protected marine areas in the world.
Mr. Bongo, who served as foreign and defense minister before becoming president, is almost entirely French educated. He is also a jazz musician; his mother was a famous singer. In the 1970s, Mr. Bongo released a funk album, “A Brand New Man.”
Correction: January 8, 2019
Because of incorrect information provided by the government of Gabon, an earlier version of this article misidentified Lt. Kelly Ondo Obiang as one of the suspects killed during a coup attempt. He was not killed in the episode.
Yves Laurent Goma contributed reporting from Libreville, Gabon; Jaime Yaya Barry from Dakar; and Eric Schmitt from Washington.
Credit via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images.
By Dionne Searcey
New York Times
Jan. 7, 2019
DAKAR, Senegal — The government of Gabon quickly beat back a coup attempt on Monday, killing two suspects and arresting eight others after the plotters took over the state radio station in the Central African nation and announced plans for a “national council of restoration,” in a country where one family has held the presidency for almost half a century.
President Ali Bongo Ondimba has been out of Gabon since October, receiving medical treatment for what many believe was a stroke he had while attending a conference in Saudi Arabia. His absence apparently created what the coup plotters perceived as an opportunity.
Shots were heard Monday in the capital, Libreville, but government soldiers soon swarmed the streets and stormed the radio station. Military tanks and armed vehicles were visible, and the authorities sought to project an image of normalcy.
Guy-Bertrand Mapangou, a government spokesman, said Monday afternoon that order had been restored. He said the two suspects had died in the course of being arrested.
A video clip of three of the coup plotters at the radio station showed that two were armed, and each wore the military fatigues of junior officers. The government is investigating the group’s motives, Mr. Mapangou said.
The plotters appeared to be young, low-ranking officers who did not seem to have a meticulous plan. Radio workers said one of them had disrobed a station employee and changed into civilian clothing before fleeing.
Mr. Bongo’s absence has not had a particularly negative effect on the oil-rich country. Its economic growth is slowing, but in past weeks the prime minister has been in charge and daily life has carried on.
Gabon has been relatively stable in recent decades, but analysts said the coup attempt was a sign of underlying unrest.
“Even if it was stupid, there’s significantly more political upset in Gabon then there has been,” said Eric Benjaminson, a former United States ambassador to the country, who left in 2013. “It’s a marker for something.”
“Mr. Bongo needs to return to Gabon,” he said, “and do something positive for the country.”
In a New Year’s Eve speech broadcast from Morocco, where Mr. Bongo, 59, was recuperating, the president sought to reassure the nation that he was fit.
“It is true that I have been through a difficult period, as sometimes happens in life,” he said. “Today, as you can see, I am better and I am preparing to meet you again soon.”
Observers noted that the president had slurred some words and did not move his right arm.
The first indication that something was amiss in Libreville on Monday came early in the morning, when songs from the campaign of Jean Ping, Mr. Bongo’s chief opponent in the 2016 presidential election, were broadcast over national radio.
A call to the station during the broadcast was answered by Lt. Kelly Ondo Obiang, the leader of the self-declared Patriotic Movement of the Defense and Security Forces of Gabon, who said he would announce a coup shortly. He went on the air and did just that, while station employees were held hostage during the broadcast.
Lieutenant Obiang said that Mr. Bongo’s speech from afar had “reinforced doubts about the president’s ability to continue to carry out of the responsibilities of his office.”
He continued: “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. If you are eating, stop; if you are having a drink, stop; if you are sleeping, wake up. Wake up your neighbors.”
With tensions running high after recent presidential elections in nearby Democratic Republic of Congo, President Trump said on Friday that he had sent about 80 troops to Gabon in case the election dispute made it necessary to evacuate Americans.
A spokesman for the United States Africa Command said that American troops in Libreville “had no involvement whatsoever” with either the coup plotters or the Gabonese military and government during the coup attempt.
Mr. Bongo’s family has long been criticized for enriching itself with proceeds from the country’s oil and mineral wealth while much of its population lived in poverty.
And Mr. Bongo’s time as president has been accompanied by criticism that he has carried out fraudulent elections, sometimes to violent ends, in hopes of hanging onto power. His father, Omar, was president for 42 years before dying in office in 2009.
When Mr. Bongo was first elected to replace his father, logistical issues during an unanticipated vote led to accusations of irregularities. In the 2016 contest, Mr. Bongo edged out his opponent, Mr. Ping, but the election was marred by accusations of fraudulent vote counting.
Protesters at the time set fire to Parliament, and the presidential guard was accused of attacking Mr. Ping’s headquarters, killing two people and wounding several others.
Yet Mr. Bongo’s actions to protect his nation’s relatively untouched forests, savannas and coastlines, all teeming with wildlife, earned praise from conservationists. He is a fixture at international climate change conferences and has created one of the largest protected marine areas in the world.
Mr. Bongo, who served as foreign and defense minister before becoming president, is almost entirely French educated. He is also a jazz musician; his mother was a famous singer. In the 1970s, Mr. Bongo released a funk album, “A Brand New Man.”
Correction: January 8, 2019
Because of incorrect information provided by the government of Gabon, an earlier version of this article misidentified Lt. Kelly Ondo Obiang as one of the suspects killed during a coup attempt. He was not killed in the episode.
Yves Laurent Goma contributed reporting from Libreville, Gabon; Jaime Yaya Barry from Dakar; and Eric Schmitt from Washington.
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