Several killed, mass arrests in Gabon post-vote violence

Gabon’s presidential guard attacked the opposition party headquarters overnight, killing one person and injuring at least 20, opposition representatives said Thursday following protests against the re-election of this central African country’s president.

“They attacked around 01:00 (00:00 GMT)”, he said. It is the republican guard. Its elements have carried out a bombing by helicopters and then they attacked on the ground.

But Mr Ping said the election was fraudulent and “everybody knows” he won.

“Trust in the election results can only be restored through a transparent verification, polling station by polling station”. “There are 19 people injured, some of them very seriously”.

The results by the Autonomous and Permanent National Electoral Commission (CENAP) gave the incumbent Bongo a slim margin victory of 5,594 votes over Ping.

“We have evidence showing that the population of Haut-Ogooué was changed on Wikipedia five or six times, with President Bongo winning (the region) with over 99% of votes, meaning the whole population is over 18-years-old, which is absolutely ridiculous”, Kumb Kumb said.

Bongo won 49,80 percent of votes in Saturday’s election against 48,23 percent for Ping, according to results read by Moubelet Boubeya on Wednesday, after the announcement was delayed by one day.

A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he called “on all political leaders to address their differences peacefully and to address any disputes they may have through existing constitutional and legal channels”.

Libreville residents said that the internet was cut on Thursday.

The government said it was targeting “armed criminals” who had earlier set the parliament on fire.

European Union observers criticized what they called a “lack of transparency” in the vote, and both the EU and the United States called for electoral officials to publish results from all polling stations.

Many of parliament’s windows burst in the heat of the fire, the guardhouse was burned to ashes and all vehicles in the auto park reduced to shells.

U.S. state department spokesman John Kirby said events in Gabon were being closely monitored by the global community and “appropriate actions” were being considered. Bongo took office in 2009 after an election marred by violence, succeeding his father Omar Bongo who had come to power in 1967.

France is Gabon’s former colonial power and retains strong economic and cultural links.

Oil-rich Gabon has one of the highest per-capita incomes in Africa, but few of its 1.6 million people feel the benefit.