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Fri, Mar

Update: Aborted Coup D’état In Republic Of Gabon

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Recent reports indicated that the chief mastermind of military rebels who led a failed coup in Gabon on Monday has been arrested and two of his commandos killed after they stormed a public radio station, as informed by the presidency.

 

It can be recalled that early morning of Monday, 7th December 2019 a group of soldiers attempted to take power and called in a radio appeal for a popular uprising against ailing President Ali Bongo, who is recovering from a stroke in an undisclosed hospital in Morocco.

Security forces stormed the radio station in the capital Libreville to take it back, killing two rebel troops, arresting their leader and freeing journalists who had been forced to help rebels make their broadcast.

The presidency affirmed that the situation is under control while six rebel troops earlier Monday burst into the state radio broadcasting station were "neutralized.

Officials earlier said five rebels had entered the building and four had been arrested. The message was read by a person who identified himself as Lieutenant Ondo Obiang Kelly, the deputy commander of the Republican Guard and head of a previously unknown group, the Patriotic Youth Movement of the Gabonese Defence and Security Forces.

According to Kelly, a national restoration council would be formed in the former French colony to guarantee a democratic transition for the Gabonese people.

Bongo is staying at a private residence in the Moroccan capital Rabat after suffering a stroke. He made a televised speech on New Year’s Eve but has not been in the West African country since October.

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