Gabon detains soldiers after failed coup
Group of soldiers had
called on people to ‘rise up’
while ailing
president is out of country
Rise up: (intransitive)
Ailing: Ill, sick, indisposed
Ruth Maclean in Dakar, and agencies
Mon 7 Jan 2019 14.18 GMT
The Gabonese government has put down a coup attempt after a group of soldiers briefly took over state radio and
broadcast a statement calling on people to “rise up” while the president, Ali
Bongo, is in Morocco recovering from a stroke.
Briefly
(briːfli ) : Something that happens or is done briefly happens or is done for a
very short period of time.
Stroke: Apoplexy
Authorities have regained control of the state
broadcasting offices and a major thoroughfare in the
capital, Libreville, which were the only areas taken by the plotters, the government spokesman Guy-Bertrand Mapangou
told Radio France International.
Thoroughfare: A thoroughfare is a main road
in a town or city which usually has shops along it and a lot of traffic
Plotter: A plotter is a person who
secretly plans with others to do something that is illegal or wrong, usually
against a person or government. Conspirator, intriguer, conspirer, traitor. In
other sense is a peripheral computer device for producing charts, graphs, etc.
directly from data. It comes from the other sense of plotter: a person who
secretly plans with others to do something that is illegal or wrong, usually
against a person or government.
At 4.30am (0530 GMT) on Monday a man
identifying himself as Lt Kelly Ondo Obiang read out a message on state radio
that was simultaneously filmed for social media.
Obiang was flanked by two armed men, all in the
uniform and green berets of the powerful Republican Guard, which is usually
tasked with protecting the president.
“The eagerly awaited day has arrived when the army has decided to put
itself on the side of the people in order to save Gabon from chaos,” he said.
“If you are eating, stop; if you are having a drink, stop; if you are sleeping,
wake up. Wake up your neighbours … rise up as one and take control of the street,”
he added, calling on Gabonese to occupy the country’s airports, public
buildings and media organisations.
Eagerly: If you are eager to do or have something, you want to
do or have it very much.
A witness told Reuters a crowd of about 300
people had gathered in support of the attempted coup at the state broadcasting
headquarters, where the military fired teargas to disperse
them.
Teargas: any one of a number of gases or
vapours that make the eyes smart and water, causing temporary blindness;
usually dispersed from grenades and used in warfare and to control riots
The Bongo family has ruled Gabon since 1967,
except for four months in 2009 after Ali Bongo’s father, Omar, died.
Four of the five plotters were taken into
custody on Monday morning, Mapangou told France 24. The fifth was caught in the
afternoon, reportedly hiding under a bed in a house. “The government is in
place. The institutions are in place,” Mapangou said. The
communications minister said the men were “a group of jokers and the military
hierarchy does not recognise them”.
Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chair of the African
Union, said he strongly condemned the coup attempt. A spokeswoman for the
French foreign ministry also criticised the action in its former colony.
“Gabon’s stability can only be ensured in strict compliance with the provisions
of its constitution,” she said.
Bongo became ill in October while on a visit to
Saudi Arabia. Rather than going home, he went to recuperate in Morocco, from
where he gave a New Year’s Day statement in which he admitted he had been
“through a difficult period, as sometimes happens in life”. He said he was
preparing to return home soon.
Obiang said Bongo’s speech, in which he slurred some words and appeared unable to move his right
arm, had “reinforced doubts about the president’s ability to continue to carry out the responsibilities of his office”.
Slurred
( slɜːd ): Indistinct
and difficult to hear or understand. Mumble, speak unclearly.
Omar Bongo squandered much of
Gabon’s vast oil wealth and kept close ties with
France in a system known as Françafrique. Ali Bongo tried to set
himself apart from his father but lost any moral high ground
at the last presidential vote.
Squandered: If you squander money,
resources, or opportunities, you waste them.
Vast oil
wealth: Great oil
richness
Tried to
set himself apart from: Take a different way
Moral
high ground: If you say that someone has taken the moral high ground, you mean that
they consider that their policies and actions are morally superior to the
policies and actions of their rivals. Moral prestige.
At the last
presidential vote: Note
the use of “at” for vote
He was the beneficiary of an election in 2016
that was widely acknowledged to have been rigged amid violence from the country’s security forces.
Ostensibly he won 49.8% of the vote to his rival Jean Ping’s 48.23%. Ping had looked set to win until results from Haut-Ogooué,
Bongo’s home region, were announced. The electoral commission claimed a 99.98% turnout in Haut-Ogooué, compared with 59% everywhere else,
and said 95% of those who cast votes there did
so for the president.
Widely: Spacious, broad, extensive, ample
Rig ( rɪg
) rigged rigged : To manipulate or control usually by deceptive or dishonest means. To fix
in advance for a desired result
Had
looked set to win: It seemed possible to win
Turnout: The turnout at an event is the
number of people who go to it or take part in it. Participation
Turnoff: A turnoff is a road leading away from a major road or
a highway. Something that is a turnoff causes you to lose interest or sexual
excitement. Someone
or something regarded as being boring, uninteresting, distasteful, etc
Turnover: The turnover of a company is the value of the goods or
services sold during a particular period of time.
Cast
cast cast: When you cast your vote in an election, you vote.
The opposition accused the Republican Guard of
bombing its headquarters in the aftermath.
In the aftermath:
As
result. The aftermath of an important event, especially a harmful one, is the situation
that results from it. In the aftermath of the coup, the troops opened fire on
the demonstrators. During the Soviet era and its immediate aftermath, the
region was officially known as 'Middle Asia and Kazakhstan'.
On Friday, (*)
Donald Trump sent 80 troops to Gabon to defend US interests and “further foreign policy” in the nearby Democratic Republic of
the Congo, where the Catholic church has warned of an uprising if the result of
an election on 30 December is not respected.
On Friday: Note the use of “on” for days of
the week
Further
foreign policy: Additional external politic
On 30
December: Note the
use of “on” for days of the month
(*) President Trump
has quietly sent 80 military personnel to the West African nation of Gabon –
two weeks after he caused an international uproar by declaring his intention to
pull US troops out of Syria and Afghanistan.
Forces arrived there
Wednesday(**) to be close to neighboring Congo, where American diplomats and
visitors could be at risk if violent demonstrations break out over last week’s
presidential election.
Trump informed
congressional leaders of the deployment Friday in a letter noting that the
combat troops would be backed by air support and would remain indefinitely,
until “their presence is no longer needed.”
Congo’s Dec. 30
election, which could push the party of longtime president Joseph Kabila out of
power, gave rise to numerous allegations of fraud and rumors of a popular
uprising if the results appear to be tainted. The final tally is expected to be
announced Sunday.
(**) So Friday
2019/01/04 Trump announced it but the troops were already in Gabon since Wednesday
2019/01/02
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