Today’s news / Gabon

Gabon

The military junta that has seized power in Gabon appointed former Prime Minister Raymond Ndong Sima as interim prime minister on Thursday. The announcement comes a week after senior figures in Gabon’s military seized power in a coup and deposed President Ali Bongo Ondimba, who is now under house arrest. On Monday this week, coup leader General Brice Oligui Nguema was sworn in as the African country’s new president. Raymond Ndong Sima, 68, was Gabon’s prime minister from 2012 to 2014. The ousted president is now allowed to leave the country whenever he wishes. Bongo has been under house arrest since August 30, when he was deposed in a military coup. His family has been in power in the oil-rich but impoverished country for the past 56 years. /ritzau/