Gabon soldiers say they have appointed republican guard chief as head of state

Soldiers hold General Brice Clothaire Oligui Nguema aloft in Libreville (Gabon24/AP)

Mutinous soldiers in Gabon announced on Wednesday that the head of the country’s elite republican guard would lead the Central African country, hours after saying they had placed the country’s newly re-elected president under house arrest.

The coup leaders said in an announcement on Gabon’s state TV that General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema had been “unanimously” designated president of a transitional committee to lead the country.