Gabon’s president Ali Bongo has appeared in a video that has been circulating on social media, calling for help from “associates everywhere in the world” after being positioned beneath home arrest.
The ousted chief is sitting in what he calls his residence – a grand room full with wood-panelled partitions, ornate carpets and leather-bound books.
Senior officers in Gabon’s navy had earlier appeared on nationwide tv, saying that they had seized energy of the nation and that they may annul the outcomes of an election through which President Bongo was declared the winner.
An organization working for the presidency has instructed the BBC that the video of the president talking is genuine.