What is happening in Gabon and who is Ali Bongo?
Military leaders in Gabon have announced a coup after president Ali Bongo was declared victorious in the country’s presidential election.
The result, which would give him a third term in office and extend his family’s 55-year grip of power on the country, has been highly disputed.
But who is Mr Bongo, who is behind the coup and what is happening in the Central African nation?
Here’s what you need to know.
Who is Ali Bongo?
Ali Bongo’s family has held power in Gabon for 55 years.
His father Omar Bongo was the country’s president from 1967 until his death in 2009.
Ali Bongo, 64, has ruled since then – but his takeover was not welcomed by many Gabonese who believed his success was down to family connections.
“A spoilt child, born in Congo-Brazzaville, brought up in France, hardly able to speak indigenous languages and with the appearance of a hip-hop star”, was how Burkina Faso newspaper L’Observateur Paalga described him.
Mr Bongo went to school in France and then studied law at the Sorbonne in Paris. He entered politics after graduating, joining the Gabonese Democratic Party in 1981.
During his father’s presidency, Mr Bongo was minister of foreign affairs and minister of defence, and represented the town of Bongoville in the country’s National Assembly.
The town, originally called Lewai, was renamed after Omar Bongo, who was born there and massively expanded it during his presidency.
Mr Bongo was born Alain Bernard Bongo but changed his name to Ali in 1973, when he and his father converted to Islam.
In 1977 he released a funk album titled A Brand New Man, produced by James Brown’s former manager, Charles Bobbit.
Mr Bongo had a stroke in 2018 and spent months out of the country recovering.
Why has there been a coup attempt?
Mutinous soldiers declared they were seizing power hours after it was announced Mr Bongo had won 64% of the presidential vote, giving him a third term in office.
Opposition groups argued the result was fraudulent.
In the election, Mr Bongo faced an opposition coalition led by economics professor and former education minister Albert Ondo Ossa, whose surprise nomination came a week before the vote.
Gabonese military appear on television as they announce they have seized power
Who announced the coup?
A group of nearly a dozen senior military figures made the announcement on the national TV channel Gabon 24.
They introduced themselves as members of The Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions and said they represented all security and defence forces in Gabon.
The group’s members were drawn from the gendarme police force, the republican guard and other elements of the security forces.
What’s happened in Gabon since the attempted coup?
The military leaders said election results were cancelled, all borders were closed until further notice, and state institutions dissolved.
Sounds of gunfire were reported in the Gabonese capital Libreville on Wednesday morning, but there did not appear to be significant signs of unrest.
Crowds in the capital took to the city’s streets to celebrate the end of Mr Bongo’s reign, singing the national anthem with soldiers.
A military vehicle passes people celebrating in Port-Gentil after soldiers announced a coup. Pic: Gaetan M-Antchouwet/Reuters
Where is Mr Bongo now?
Mr Bongo has been placed under house arrest following the coup.
What’s the history of elections and violence in Gabon?
Every vote held in Gabon since the country’s return to a multi-party system in 1990 has ended in violence.
Clashes between government forces and protesters following the 2016 election killed four people, according to official figures, but opposition groups said the true number killed was higher.
Another group of mutinous soldiers attempted a coup in January 2019, while Mr Bongo was in Morocco recovering from a stroke. That uprising was foiled when two of the suspected coup plotters were killed and others arrested.
What about other coups in Africa?
The coup attempt came about one month after soldiers in Niger seized power from the democratically elected government.
It is the latest in a series of coups that have challenged governments with ties to France, the region’s former coloniser.
Gabon’s coup, if successful would bring the number of coups in West and Central Africa to eight since 2020.
Unlike Niger and two other West African countries run by military juntas, Gabon has not been wracked by jihadi violence and had been seen as relatively stable.
In his annual Independence Day speech on 17 August, Mr Bongo said: “While our continent has been shaken in recent weeks by violent crises, rest assured that I will never allow you and our country Gabon to be hostages to attempts at destabilisation. Never.”
Will the coup affect Europe?
The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said if a coup was confirmed it would heap more instability on Europe.
Speaking at a meeting of EU defence ministers, he said they would discuss the situation in Gabon.
“The whole area, starting with Central African Republic, then Mali, then Burkina Faso, now Niger, maybe Gabon, it’s in a
very difficult situation and certainly the ministers … have to have a deep thought on what is going on there and how we can improve our policy in respect to these countries,” he said.
“This is a big issue for Europe,” he added.
France is following the situation in Gabon very closely, said prime minister Elisabeth Borne on Wednesday, as she addressed a meeting of ambassadors in Paris.
US president-elect Donald Trump has suggested Israel and Hamas could agree a Gaza ceasefire by the end of the week.
Talks between Israeli and Hamas representatives resumed in the Qatari capital Doha yesterday, after US President Joe Biden indicated a deal to stop the fighting was “on the brink” on Monday.
A draft agreement has been sent to both sides. It includes provisions for the release of hostages and a phased Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza.
Qatar says Israel and Hamas are at their “closest point” yet to a ceasefire deal.
Two Hamas officials said the group has accepted the draft agreement, with Israel still considering the deal.
An Israeli official said a deal is close but “we are not there” yet.
More than 46,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its ground offensive in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Read more:
What’s in the proposed deal?
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on beachfront cafe in Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters
Biden hails possibility of agreement
President Biden said it would include a hostage release deal and a “surge” of aid to Palestinians, in his final foreign policy speech as president.
“So many innocent people have been killed, so many communities have been destroyed. Palestinian people deserve peace,” he said.
“The deal would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel, and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started.”
Qatari mediators have sent Israel and Hamas a draft proposal for an agreement to halt the fighting.
Analysis:
Deal might be close, but there are many unanswered questions
Pic: Reuters
Trump: ‘We’re very close’
President-elect Donald Trump has also discussed a possible peace deal during a phone interview with the Newsmax channel.
“We’re very close to getting it done and they have to get it done,” he said.
“If they don’t get it done, there’s going to be a lot of trouble out there, a lot of trouble, like they have never seen before.
“And they will get it done. And I understand there’s been a handshake and they’re getting it finished and maybe by the end of the week. But it has to take place, it has to take place.”
Read more:
Pope Francis honoured by Joe Biden
Donald Trump’s inauguration 2.0
Pic: AP
Israeli official: Former Hamas leader held up deal
Speaking on Tuesday as negotiations resumed in Qatar, an anonymous Israeli official said that an agreement was “close, but we are not there”.
They accused Hamas of previously “dictating, not negotiating” but said this has changed in the last few weeks.
“Yahya Sinwar was the main obstacle for a deal,” they added.
Sinwar, believed to be the mastermind of the 7 October attacks, led Hamas following the assassination of his predecessor but was himself killed in October last year.
Under Sinwar, the Israeli official claimed, Hamas was “not in a rush” to bring a hostage deal but this has changed since his death and since the IDF “started to dismantle the Shia axis”.
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Biden: ‘Never, never, never, ever give up’
Iran ‘weaker than it’s been in decades’
Yesterday, President Biden also hailed Washington’s support for Israel during two Iranian attacks in 2024.
“All told, Iran is weaker than it’s been in decades,” the president said.
Mr Biden claimed America’s adversaries were weaker than when he took office four years ago and that the US was “winning the worldwide competition”.
“Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are
weaker,” he said.
“We have not gone to war to make these things happen.”
The US president is expected to give a farewell address on Wednesday.
A draft ceasefire deal on the table between Israel and Hamas would see 33 hostages set free and a phased withdrawal of IDF forces from parts of Gaza.
President Joe Biden said an agreement to stop the fighting was “on the brink” and high level negotiations between the two sides resumed in Qatar on Tuesday.
The deal would see a number of things happen in a first stage, with negotiations for the second stage beginning in the third week of the ceasefire.
It would also allow a surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by more than a year of war.
Details of what the draft proposal entails have been emerging on Tuesday, reported by Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages hold photos of their loved ones during a protest on 8 January. Pic: AP
Hostages to be returned
In the first stage of the potential ceasefire, 33 hostages would be set free.
These include women (including female soldiers), children, men over the age of 50, wounded and sick.
Israel believes most of these hostages are alive but there has not been any official confirmation from Hamas.
In return for the release of the hostages, Israel would free more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
People serving long sentences for deadly attacks would be included in this but Hamas fighters who took part in the 7 October attack would not be released.
An arrangement to prevent Palestinian “terrorists” from going back to the West Bank would be included in the deal, an anonymous Israeli official said.
Read more:
A timeline of events since the 7 October attacks
The hostages who still haven’t returned home
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in Beit Hanoun in Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza
The agreement also includes a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, with IDF troops remaining in the border perimeter to defend Israeli border towns and villages.
Security arrangements would be implemented at the Philadelphi corridor – a narrow strip of land that runs along the border between Egypt and Gaza – with Israel withdrawing from parts of it after the first few days of the deal.
The Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza would start to work gradually to allow the crossing of people who are sick and other humanitarian cases out of Gaza for treatment.
Unarmed North Gaza residents would be allowed to return to their homes, with a mechanism introduced to ensure no weapons are moved there.
“We will not leave the Gaza Strip until all our hostages are back home,” the Israeli official said.
What will happen to Gaza in the future?
There is less detail about the future of Gaza – from how it will be governed, to any guarantees that this agreement will bring a permanent end to the war.
“The only thing that can answer for now is that we are ready for a ceasefire,” the Israeli official said.
“This is a long ceasefire and the deal that is being discussed right now is for a long one. There is a big price for releasing the hostages and we are ready to pay this price.”
The international community has said Gaza must be run by Palestinians, but there has not been a consensus about how this should be done – and the draft ceasefire agreement does not seem to address this either.
In the past, Israel has said it will not end the war leaving Hamas in power. It also previously rejected the possibility of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited governing powers in the West Bank, from taking over the administration of Gaza.
Since the beginning of its military campaign in Gaza, Israel has also said it would retain security control over the territory after the fighting ends.
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