Politics

Prisoners from six penitentiaries in Ecuador are holding 57 guards and police officers hostage in retaliation for operations by the state’s armed forces in the prisons, the organization in charge of the latter (SNAI) said on Thursday. In the middle of a day of violence caused by the explosion of …

The African Union announced the suspension of Gabon from all its activities, following Wednesday’s military takeover, which it strongly condemned. The decision followed a meeting on Thursday of the bloc’s Peace and Security Council. Earlier, the Gabonese junta said it would phase in what it is calling transitional institutions after …

Josep Borrell, the head of European diplomacy, insisted on Thursday on the difference between the coups in Niger and Gabon, declaring that the elections in Gabon were marred by irregularities. “Naturally, military coups are not the solution but we must not forget that in Gabon there were elections full of …

Russia, Bamako’s ally, vetoed on Wednesday a UN Security Council resolution extending sanctions against Malians threatening peace in the country, which the Malian junta was demanding be lifted. The resolution which planned to extend for one year the sanctions regime put in place in 2017 against individuals endangering the 2015 …

Gabon’s putschists have appointed the head of the Presidential Guard, General Oligui Ngema Brice, to lead the country after the overthrow of President Ali Bongo. “General Oligui Nguema Brice has been unanimously appointed as president of the Commission for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI),” Colonel Ulrich Manfounbi, spokesman …

Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose re-election after 14 years in power had just been announced, has been “retired”, said Wednesday the head of the Republican Guard, General Brice Oligui Nguema. Ali Bongo, currently under house arrest, “is retired, he enjoys all his rights. He is a normal Gabonese, like …

French opponent Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused President Emmanuel Macron this Wednesday of having “once again compromised France in supporting the unbearable to the end”, with his support for Gabonese President Ali Bongo. His comments come after the overthrown of President Ali Bongo, in power for 14 years. “Now, Gabon has only …

A group of senior Gabonese army officers appeared on national television Wednesday morning and declared they had seized power. It comes minutes after the state electoral body announced that President Ali Bongo was elected for a third term. Appearing on the Gabon 24 television channel, the officers said they represented …

Algeria has proposed a six-month transition period to civilian rule, overseen by a non-military person, as a way to end the crisis created by the coup in Niger. Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf said most of the countries he spoke with were against the use of force as a means …

Zimbabwean main opposition party on Tuesday called for a rerun of last week’s elections, slamming irregularities and calling on other African countries to help mediate the standoff with the ruling party, Reuters reported. But the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) party did not say how it would seek to force …