Security forces deployed on streets in Gabon

Security forces deployed on the deserted streets of Libreville on Tuesday as Gabon awaited official results of the weekend presidential election that both the incumbent Ali Bongo and his main rival already claim to have won.
The interior minister said he would announce official results after the Cenap election commission meets at around 19:00, reiterating that it is illegal to release results before then.
Presidential challenger Jean Ping, a 73-year-old career diplomat, was said by his team to have a 60 000-vote lead over Bongo which could only be overturned with “massive fraud”.
Bongo’s camp said the president – who came to power in a 2009 election held after the death of his father Omar Bongo, who had ruled the oil-rich central African country for 41 years – was guaranteed victory.
Many in Gabon fear a repeat of the violence that followed the 2009 election.
On Tuesday afternoon anti-riot police began to take up positions around Libreville and later established checkpoints in various parts of the capital, blocking access to the presidential palace. Light armoured vehicles also began to patrol along the Atlantic coast.
The embassy of France, the former colonial power, told French nationals not to move around the city.