Gabon Coup Leader Sworn In as Interim President in Scene of Jubilation

Gabon Coup Leader Sworn In as Interim President in Scene of Jubilation
Gabon coup leader General Brice Oligui Nguema is sworn in as interim president during his swearing-in ceremony, in Libreville, Gabon, on Sept. 4, 2023. Gerauds Wilfried Obangome/Reuters
Reuters
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LIBREVILLE—The leader of a coup that ousted Gabon’s President Ali Bongo was sworn in as interim president and cheered by jubilant supporters on Monday in a televised ceremony designed to cast the military as liberators of an oppressed society.

In West and Central Africa’s eighth coup in three years, army officers led by General Brice Oligui Nguema seized power on Aug. 30, minutes after an announcement that Bongo had won an election they annulled and said was not credible.