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TEHRAN, Jan 7 - A group of soldiers sought to take power in Gabon on Monday while the country's ailing president was abroad, but the government declared the bid had failed and the rebels had been arrested.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Soldiers burst into state radio offices at dawn and called on the public to "rise up", an appeal made as President Ali Bongo remained in Morocco after suffering a stroke last year.
Shots were heard around state broadcasting headquarters in Libreville, capital of the oil-rich West African nation, at about the same time as the message was read at 6:30 am (0530 GMT).
But within a few hours, government spokesman Guy-Bertrand Mapangou told AFP: "Calm has returned, the situation is under control."
Of the five who entered the radio station, "four have been arrested and one is on the run," according to Mapangou.
Security forces have been deployed in the capital and will remain there over the coming days in order to maintain order, he said.
The gunfire, he said, was used to control a crowd.
The elite Republican Guard was deployed around the building and armoured vehicles blocked access to the area, an AFP correspondent saw.
In a rundown district nearby, dozens of young people torched a car and set fire to tyres, while the security forces fired teargas to try to disperse them.
Source: AFP
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