Opposition supporters went on the rampage across oil-rich Gabon Thursday, torching a French consulate and attacking a prison, after the son of the country's late leader was declared winner of a bitter presidential election. Disturbances were reported in several districts of the capital Libreville as officials said Ali Bongo had won the contest to succeed his father, Omar Bongo Ondimba, with around 42 percent of the vote.
In some neighbourhoods, crowds of young men chanted "Death to the Whites" as Paris told around 10,000 French nationals not to leave their homes amid rumours the former colonial power had conspired to fix the result. The shells of burnt-out cars littered highways around the capital while demonstrators had set fire to piles of tyres and erected makeshift barricades with upturned rubbish bins.
The French consulate was set ablaze in the second city of Port-Gentil, while several hundred supporters of long-time opposition leader Pierre Mamboundou, attacked the city's prison and freed inmates. "Measures are in place to ensure the security of French citizens ... It is recommended to French people to stay at home," international development minister Alain Joyandet told AFP in Paris.
He said that around 80 French soldiers - out of 1,000 stationed at France's permanent base in the country - had been "called out" in Port-Gentil following the attack on the consulate and on French companies Total and Schlumberger.
Violence also erupted in Nkembo, east of the capital. "People are breaking anything that they can, they have smashed stores. It is a mess," said resident Benjamin Ngouan. After several delays, the electoral commission finally announced on Thursday that Ali Bongo, a former defence minister, had won the contest to become president of the African nation, succeeding his father who ruled for 41 years until his death in June.
Ali Bongo was declared the winner with 141,952 (41.73 percent) of votes cast in last Sunday's election, putting him clearly ahead of his nearest rival Andre Mba Obame, a former interior minister, who won 88,028 (25.88 percent) votes. Mamboundou came third with 25.22 percent. All three had proclaimed victory soon after polls closed and the build-up to Thursday's announcement had been marked by growing tensions.
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