The leaders of the coup in Gabon on Wednesday named Republican Guard chief, General Brice Oligui Nguema, transitional president, according to a TV statement.
The military seized control of government in the country in the wake of elections, they described as not meeting the yearning of the people.
“General Oligui Nguema Brice was unanimously appointed chairman of the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions, chairman of the transition,” declared an officer in the presence of dozens of senior officers, according to the statement read out on Gabon 24.
Morocco seeks stability in Gabon after coup
Meanwhile, Morocco on Wednesday called for the preservation of stability in central Africa’s Gabon, where rebel officers placed under house arrest President Ali Bongo Ondimba, a childhood friend of King Mohammed VI.
Gabon has been one of Morocco’s main allies in Africa since the reign of Mohammed’s father, Hassan II.
Morocco is “following closely the evolution of the situation in the Gabonese republic,” Rabat’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
The kingdom “underlines the importance of preserving the stability of this brotherly country and the tranquility of the population,” it added.
The Moroccan ministry expressed confidence that Gabon’s people and national institutions would move towards action “in the higher interest of the country, to safeguard the gains and respond to the aspirations of the Gabonese people.”
