Security forces in Gabon continued to clash with oppositiondemonstrators following the announcement that the son of the country'slong-time ruler has been elected president. The French oil firm Totalhas evacuated foreign workers from Port Gentil, at the center of theviolence.
Interior Minister Jean-Francois Ndongou told Frenchstate radio that two people killed overnight in Port Gentil werelooters shot by a home owner.
Rioters in Port Gentil burned theFrench consulate and looted nearby shops Thursday following theannouncement that former defense minister Ali Ben Bongo won lastSunday's presidential election.
That violence brought anovernight curfew to Port Gentil which was repeated Friday and willcontinue, Ndongou says, "as long as necessary if calm does not prevail."
Prisonersin Port Gentil were broken out of jail and demonstrators attackedfacilities of the French oil firm Total. Expatriate staff and theirfamilies have now been evacuated to the capital, Libreville, whereTotal says they will remain until it is safe to return to Port Gentil.
The French Foreign Ministry says French nationals elsewhere in Gabon should stay in their homes.
Oppositiondemonstrators are targeting French concerns because of the longrelationship between French leaders and the 42-year-rule of GabonesePresident Omar Bongo. His death in June raised expectations of changein Gabon. The election of his son in a vote that opposition candidatessays was unfair has renewed allegations that Paris backed Ali BenBongo's candidacy.
The French Foreign Ministry says it was notinvolved in the campaign. It says Sunday's vote took place under"acceptable conditions" and losing candidates who want to contest theresult should do so in Gabon's constitutional court.
Oppositionleaders do intend to challenge a result that gave Bongo 42 percent ofthe vote. The electoral commission says former interior minister AndreMba Obame and opposition leader Pierre Mamboundou each received about25 percent.
Obame says the results are an "electoral coup."Mamboundou's party is calling on its supports to "resist" the outcome.Politicians allied with Mamboundou say he has gone into hiding after hewas injured when police tear-gassed demonstrators following the results.
TheAfrican Union is calling on Gabonese to show "great restraint" andabstain from acts that might compromise peace and security.