PRETORIA, August 31. /TASS/. The African Union Peace and Security Council will convene later on Thursday to review the situation in Gabon, where the military seized power during a coup, Reuters reported, citing the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa.
The Peace and Security Council is one of African Union’s permanent managing collective security bodies, it is tasked with prevention, regulation and resolution of conflicts.
Previously, Chairman of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat condemned the military coup in Gabon and expressed his extreme concerns over the events there, which, in his opinion, comprise a gross violation of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. Speaking in the name of the entire African Union, he demanded that the Gabonese army and security forces strictly adhered to the role, designated by the republic, and to guarantee physical immunity of President Ali ben Bongo Ondimba, his family, as well as the government.
On August 30, a group of high-ranking officers in the Gabonese armed forces announced on state television that they had taken power in the country. The rebels consist of officers serving in the Central African nation’s security forces, armed forces and police, as well as members of the national guard and presidential guard. The rebels canceled the outcome of the August 26 presidential vote that resulted in President Ali Bongo Ondimba’s election to his third office term. The military claimed that the president was put "under house arrest, accompanied by his family and medics." Later on August 30, Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema was appointed an interim president.