Paris monitoring situation in coup-hit Gabon with 'utmost attention': French premier

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) – France is monitoring the developments in coup-hit Gabon with the "utmost attention," the French prime minister said Wednesday.

"This year, the actions of the French diplomatic network were marked by replies to several major crises: the ongoing war in Ukraine that falls within the long term, the situation in Sudan and the remarkable organization to evacuate our nationals, the coup in Niger and now, the situation in Gabon that we monitor with the utmost attention," Elisabeth Borne explained in her speech closing the Ambassadors' Conference in Paris.

She hailed, in this context, France's Ambassador to Niger Sylvain Itte, who did not quit his post despite the military administration in Niger giving him 48 hours to leave the country last week.

-Situation in Gabon

A group of senior Gabonese army officers appeared on national television early Wednesday and announced that they had seized power in the central African country.

The move came shortly after the Gabonese Election Centre (CGE) confirmed that incumbent President Ali Bongo officially won a third term as president with 64.27% of the vote.

-Situation in Niger

Amid tensions that have risen in the weeks following the ouster of the West African nation's democratically-elected President Mohamed Bazoum, the military administration's Foreign Ministry on Friday gave French Ambassador Sylvain Itte 48 hours to "leave Nigerien territory."

Niger plunged into turmoil on July 26 when Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, a former commander of the presidential guard, led a military intervention that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.

Bazoum was elected in 2021 in Niger’s first democratic power transition since it gained independence from French colonial rule in 1960.