Military in Gabon arrests key figures following coup

By Aurore Bonny

DOUALA, Cameroon (AA) - Senior members of Gabon's Republican Guard staged a coup Wednesday and detained several prominent figures, according to the junta.

Noureddine Bongo Valentin, the son of Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba and President of the National Assembly Richard Auguste Onouviet are being held, according to the junta known as the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI).

The military group went on national television and declared the end of the Ondimba regime after official results of Saturday's presidential election were announced.

Ondimba won with more than 64% of the vote.

The results of the election "are truncated," and the election canceled, according to the spokesman from the junta.

Coup plotters announced the arrest of several personalities for "high treason against the institutions of the State, massive misappropriation of public funds, international financial embezzlement in organized gangs, forgery and use of forgeries, falsification of the signature of the President of the Republic, active corruption, drug trafficking."

The CTRI denounced "irresponsible, unpredictable governance resulting in a continuous deterioration of social cohesion, which risks leading the country into chaos."