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CNN —The military leaders who staged a coup in Gabon have freed ousted president Ali Bongo Ondimba and he is now allowed to travel abroad, a junta spokesperson said Wednesday. Bongo has reportedly been held in house arrest since the coup in the Central African nation in late August. “Given his state of health, the former President of the Republic Ali Bongo Ondimba is free to move about. It’s not immediately clear if Bongo will leave Gabon following his release by the junta. If the ousted president leaves, he is likely to go to France where the Bongo family has a portfolio of luxury real estate.

Persons: Ali Bongo Ondimba, Bongo, “, Republic Ali Bongo Ondimba, Ulrich Manfoumbi, Gen, Brice Oligui Nguema, Abdou Abarry, …, ”, swirled, Omar Bongo, ” Bongo’s, Nguema, ” Nguema, It’s Organizations: CNN, United Nations Regional Office, Central, Gabonese Locations: Gabon, Central African, Republic, Central Africa, Libreville, Morocco, Bongo, France, United States

☆ Central African Republic President Meets Gabon Junta Leader for Talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Sept. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Wilfried ObangomeLIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Central African Republic President Faustin Touadera held closed-door talks with Gabon's junta-appointed leader in Libreville on Tuesday in the wake of the main regional bloc's condemnation of the Aug. 30 coup. Central African bloc ECCAS has suspended Gabon's membership, but has so far stopped short of imposing sanctions in response to the non-violent military ouster of President Ali Bongo - West and Central Africa's eighth coup in three years. In a possible sign some internal political forces are rallying around the new authorities, the leader of Gabon's main opposition alliance, Albert Ondo Ossa, said he had spoken with Nguema on Tuesday. Military officers seized power shortly after Bongo was announced as its winner - a result they annulled and said was not credible. Apart from one video appeal for international support, little has been heard from Bongo since he was placed under house arrest during the coup.

Persons: Wilfried Obangome, Faustin Touadera, Ali Bongo, Brice Oligui Nguema, Bongo, Touadera, Nguema, Gabon's, Albert Ondo Ossa, Alessandra Prentice, Leslie Adler Organizations: Wilfried Obangome LIBREVILLE, Reuters, African, Gabon's, Central, Military Locations: Libreville, Gabonese, Gabon, Ondo

☆ Fitch places Gabon on 'rating watch negative' following coup
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Soldiers of the Republican Guard stand on their armed pick-up in a street in Libreville, Gabon August 30, 2023 REUTERS/Scott Ngokila Acquire Licensing RightsSept 5 (Reuters) - Credit ratings agency Fitch said on Tuesday it has placed Gabon on "rating watch negative" (RWN), citing high political uncertainty in the Central African nation following a military coup last month. Fitch placed Gabon's 'B-' Long-Term Foreign-Currency and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings on RWN in an unscheduled review. It said the coup may have weakened Gabon's financial prospects by hurting the operational capacity of institutions responsible for its treasury and debt management, and also affecting the country's access to regional debt markets. "We assume Gabon will rely more on the regional market for financing at higher interest costs as the coup heightens the market's nervousness," Fitch said. The credit ratings agency added that a resumption of the country's IMF programme was also now unlikely.

Persons: Scott Ngokila, Fitch, Ali Bongo, Bongo, Pushkala, Shailesh Organizations: Republican Guard, REUTERS, Central, IMF, Thomson Locations: Libreville, Gabon, Central, West, Bengaluru

☆ Gabon coup leader sworn in as interim president in scene of jubilation
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( Gerauds Wilfried Obangome | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Gabon coup leader General Brice Oligui Nguema is sworn in as interim president during his swearing-in ceremony, in Libreville, Gabon, September 4, 2023. State TV showed images of a cheering crowd and armoured personnel carriers firing into the sea to mark the moment. PLEDGE TO RETURN POWER TO CIVILIANSNguema reiterated that his administration would organise free and fair elections, though he gave no timetable. "After this transition ... we intend to return power to civilians by organising new elections that will be free, transparent, credible and peaceful," he said. The coup had drawn cheering crowds onto the streets of the capital Libreville but condemnation from abroad.

Persons: General Brice Oligui Nguema, Gerauds Wilfried Obangome, Bongo, Ali Bongo, Nguema, Nellie Peyton, Karin Strohecker, Alessandra Prentice, Estelle Shirbon, Peter Graff, Christina Fincher Organizations: REUTERS, Central Africa LIBREVILLE, Gabon's, Central, State, Central African, United Nations, African Union, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Gabon, Libreville, West, Central, of Gabon

☆ Gabon coup leader will not rush to elections despite mounting pressure
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Trucks carrying industrial equipments wait because of the closure of the border after the coup in Gabon, in the border town of Kye-Ossi, Cameroon August 31, 2023. The officers placed Bongo under house arrest and installed Nguema as head of state, ending the Bongo family's 56-year hold on power. "Going as quickly as possible does not mean organising ad hoc elections, where we will end up with the same errors," he said. Gabon's election commission said after the election that Bongo had been re-elected with 64% of the vote, while Ondo Ossa secured almost 31%. It said it will impose sanctions on the coup leaders if they do not restore constitutional order.

Persons: Danga, Nguema, Gabon's, Ali Bongo, General Brice Oligui Nguema, Bongo, Alexandra Pangha, Albert Ondo Ossa, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, Ian Ghislain Ngoulou, Bongo Valentin, Bongo's, Mohamed Bazoum, Ondo Ossa, Pangha, Wilfried Obangome, Sonia Rolley, Libby George, Juliette Jabkhiro, Edward McAllister, Anait Miridzhanian, Sofia Christensen, Frances Kerry, Peter Graff, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS, Monday, Military, Central Africa's, Central African, ECCAS, United Nations, African Union, BBC, Nguema, Gabon, Timothe, Ondo, Security, Thomson Locations: Gabon, Kye, Ossi, Cameroon, Monday LIBREVILLE, Libreville, Republic, France, United States, State, Guinea, Chad, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ondo

☆ African leaders work on response to Gabon military coup ousting President Bongo
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, the current chair of West African bloc ECOWAS, said on Wednesday he was working closely with other African leaders to contain what he called a "contagion of autocracy" spreading across Africa. Senior officers in Gabon announced their coup before dawn on Wednesday, shortly after an election body declared that Bongo had comfortably won a third term after Saturday's vote. The coups also showed the limited leverage of African powers once the military takes over. Military leaders elsewhere have also resisted international pressure, such as in Mali. The African Union, former colonial power France, the United States, Canada and Britain have all expressed concern about the coup.

Persons: Ali Bongo, Bongo, Bola Tinubu, General Brice Oligui Nguema, Omar, Josep Borrell Organizations: Economic, Central African States, West, ECOWAS, Military, African Union Locations: Gabon, West, Central Africa, Nigerian, Africa, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Libreville, France, United States, Canada, Britain, European

☆ Niger junta says open to talks as Putin, US stress peace
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Felix Onuah | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Souleymane Ag Anara/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 15 (Reuters) - Niger's junta on Tuesday said that it was open to talks to resolve a regional crisis caused by last month's military coup, while Russia and the United States called for a peaceful resolution. Singh declined to call the takeover a coup but said it "certainly looks like an attempted coup." Military leaders in Mali and Burkina Faso have kicked out troops from former colonial power France and strengthened ties with Moscow. Putin has called for a return to constitutional order in Niger, while Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin welcomed the army takeover and offered his services. Support for Russia has appeared to surge in Niger since the coup, with junta supporters waving Russian flags at rallies and calling for France to disengage.

Persons: Mohamed Bazoum, Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine, Mahamat Deby, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Assimi Goita, Sabrina Singh, Joe Biden's, Singh, Bola Tinubu, Russia's Wagner, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Felix Onuah, Mahamat Ramadane, Idrees Ali, Nellie Peyton, John Stonestreet, Estelle Shirbon, Alexandra Hudson, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, West, Economic, West African States, ECOWAS, Islamic, Twitter, Military, Thomson Locations: Nigerien, Niamey, Niger, Russia, United States, Ghana, al Qaeda, Islamic State, West, Central Africa, Russian, West Africa's, Central Africa's, West Africa, Mali, Burkina Faso, France, Moscow, Bazoum, Western, U.S, Germany, Italy, Paris, Abuja, Chad, Washington

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