PRETORIA, September 1. /TASS/. The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) will hold an emergency meeting on the situation in Gabon on Monday, September 4, Reuters reported.

Earlier, the ECCAS condemned a coup in Gabon and called for the restoration of the constitutional order in the country.

The organization, created in 1983, brings together Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, and Sao Tome and Principe. In 2000, the member states signed an agreement to establish the Council for Peace and Security in Central Africa (COPAX), which provides for joint activities aimed at maintaining regional security.

A group of high-ranking officers in the Gabonese armed forces announced on state television on August 30 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 re-election for a third term in office. The military said that he was under house arrest "surrounded by his family and doctors." Republican Guard head General Brice Oligui Nguema was later named as the country’s transitional leader. He is expected to be sworn in on September 4.