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Military coup in Gabon

Regional bloc names Central African Republic’s president as coordinator for Gabon

The regional bloc will hold an emergency meeting on the situation in Gabon on Monday, September 4

PRETORIA, September 1. /TASS/. The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) has named Faustin-Archange Touadera, President of the Central African Republic, as its coordinator for Gabon, according to a statement.

ECCAS authorized Touadera to begin talks with all Gabonese parties and the countries’ partners in order to restore constitutional order as soon as possible.

ECCAS also condemned the military’s forcible seizure of power in Gabon, which violated the country’s constitution, as well as the fundamental documents of ECCAS and the African Union.

The regional bloc will hold an emergency meeting on the situation in Gabon on Monday, September 4.

ECCAS, created in 1983, brings together Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe and Chad. 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.

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Military coup in Gabon

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