African Union chief Moussa Faki Mahamat has “strongly condemned” an attempted coup by rebel soldiers in the Gabonese capital on Monday.
“The African Union strongly condemns the coup attempt this morning in Gabon. I reaffirm the AU’s total rejection of all unconstitutional change of power,” he wrote on Twitter.
This comes hours after the government of Gabon declared that it was in control after an attempted coup by army rebels Monday and that it had arrested most of those involved.
“Calm has returned, the situation is under control,” government spokesperson Guy-Bertrand Mapangou told AFP.
Only hours earlier, soldiers burst into state radio and called on the people to “rise up”, an apparent bid to oust ailing President Ali Bongo, who is out of the country. Of the five who did this, according to Mapangou, “four have been arrested and one is on the run”.
Meanwhile most of the capital remains calm, an eyewitness told the Reuters news agency.
