Army commanders who took power in Gabon in a coup have appointed General Brice Oligui Nguema as the West African country’s interim leader.
Ali Bongo, the deposed president, appeared in a video at his residence, urging his “friends all over the world” to “make noise” on his behalf.
The former French colony is a major oil producer in Africa.
Mr Bongo’s overthrow interrupted his family’s 55-year grasp on power, extending Africa’s coup pandemic.
Army officers emerged on television in the early hours of Wednesday to declare victory.
They declared the results of Saturday’s election, in which Mr Bongo was declared the winner but the opposition claimed was illegitimate, null and void.
The officers also said they had arrested one of Mr Bongo’s sons for treason.
Within hours, generals met to discuss who would lead the transition and agreed by a unanimous vote to appoint Gen Nguema, former head of the presidential guard.
Crowds in Libreville and elsewhere celebrated the army’s declaration.
The US State Department urged Gabon’s military to “preserve civilian rule” and urged “those responsible to release and ensure the safety of members of government”. The UK condemned the “unconstitutional military takeover” of power.
There has long been simmering resentment of the Bongo family – it ruled Gabon for 55 years – and there has been public discontent over broader issues such as the cost of living.
Gen Nguema, 48, was absent from the first three statements read out by senior army officers on national television to announce the coup.
But he was named transitional leader soon after and was carried through the streets in jubilant scenes.
He was aide-de-camp to the ousted leader’s father, Omar Bongo, who ruled for almost 42 years until he died in 2009.
A former close colleague told AFP news agency that Gen Nguema had been extremely close to Omar Bongo, serving him from 2005 until he died in a Spanish hospital.
He began his career as a military attaché in Gabon’s embassies in Morocco and Senegal under Ali Bongo.
However, in 2018, he was appointed intelligence chief of Gabon’s elite republican guard, replacing Ali Bongo’s half-brother Frederic Bongo, before being promoted to general.
