Desposed Gabon’s president has called on “friends all over the world” to “make noise” over the coup in Gabon, in a clip that’s been circulating on social media.
Sitting in what he says is his residence – in a grand room complete with wood-panelled walls, ornate carpets and leather-bound books – Ali Bongo says: “My son is somewhere, my wife is in another place.
“Nothing is happening. I don’t know what is going on.”
He again urges his “friends” to speak up, before thanking them.
A communications company that was working for the presidency during the election has been in contact with the BBC to confirm the authenticity of the footage. It has been asked by Bongo’s office to circulate the video.
Notably, Bongo speaks in English. The official language of Gabon – a former French territory, from which it gained independence in 1960 – is French.
Meanwhile, European Union defence ministers are to discuss the situation in Gabon, the body’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said.
“If this is confirmed, it is another military coup which increases instability in the whole region,” the Reuters news agency quotes Mr Borrell as saying speaking to a meeting of EU defence ministers in Toledo, Spain.
“The whole area, starting with Central African Republic, then Mali, then Burkina Faso, now Niger, maybe Gabon, it’s in a very difficult situation and certainly the ministers… have to have a deep thought on what is going on there and how we can improve our policy in respect with these countries,” he said.
France – the former colonial power in Gabon – is following events “with the greatest attention”, says Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.
If the overthrow of President Ali Bongo is confirmed, Gabon would be the latest French-speaking nation in West African nation to experience a coup – following Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and most recently Niger.
French influence in the region has been undermined by the recent unrest, the AFP news agency reports.
