GABON MILITARY CUOP FAILED. LEADER TRIED TO HIDE FROM ARREST UNDER BED

FILE IMAGE

The coup attempt in Gabon on January 7th was thwarted and two soldiers that took part in it were killed, Radio France Internationale reported.

They were shot dead after security officers stormed the national radio building which they had taken over. Three others are under arrest.

“The situation is under control,” a presidency statement said.

The soldiers undertook the coup while Gabon President Ali Bongo was in Morocco recovering from a stroke. They called for people to “rise up” and bring back democracy in the country which has been ruled by Bongo’s family for about 50 years.

“The situation is calm. The gendarmes who are often stationed there have taken control of the entire area around the radio and TV headquarters, so everything is back to normal”, said Guy-Bertrand Mapangou, a spokesman for the government of the central African country.

RFI also confirmed that there was no curfew announced, television was back on, but internet and social networks were still cut off as of the afternoon of January 7th.

Mapangou said that the army generals, civil society and opposition leaders mentioned in the rebels’ statement as potential supporters would be investigated. The main opposition group in the country, The Coalition for the New Republic, denied any link with the rebel soldiers.

Coup leader Lt Kelly Ondo Obiang was on the run for a brief period, before being found hiding under a bed, according to reports.

In the early hours of January 7th, five soldiers took over the state radio station in the capital Libreville. Lt Obiang read a short statement announcing a “National Restoration Council.”

“If you are eating, stop; if you are having a drink, stop; if you are sleeping, wake up. Wake up your neighbours… rise up as one and take control of the street.”

In the nearby Cocotiers settlement some youths set fire to a car and some tires, while security forces fired tear gas at them.

80 heavily armed US soldiers were deployed to Gabon, several days ahead of the coup attempt. The pretext was concerns over the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, due to expected violent protests.

Comments

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, specif

Search This Blog