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PORT-GENTIL, Gabon: At least two people were killed on Friday as gangs went on a looting spree and torched a police station in Gabon's second city in new unrest after Ali Bongo, son of the country's late strongman, was declared winner of a bitterly contested presidential poll.
Protesters torched the consulate of former colonial ruler France in Port-Gentil, the oil-rich country's economic hub, and attacked other French interests, including offices of oil firm Total on Thursday after Bongo's contested win was declared.
Police said more than 50 arrests were made during the night as gangs destroyed service stations and pillaged stores despite a curfew.
On Friday, demonstrators ransacked and then burnt a police station in the city. Residents said the attackers freed detainees from police-holding cells before torching it.
In the evening, marauding gangs pillaged shops on the northern fringes of the coastal city, prompting speedy police intervention.
Residents said many shots were fired as police tried to stop looters and a sports and recreation centre for Total workers was set on fire.
"We can hear shots, but don't know if teargas was shot or shots were fired from firearms, but it sounds very violent," said a resident of the Chateau district where the police station was looted and burnt down in the afternoon.
A family member and a lawmaker said at least two people were taken to Port-Gentil's morgue on Friday with bullet wounds.
Early Friday afternoon, police and gendarmes used teargas to disperse hundreds of looters and residents, who had gathered to complain and list damages during rioting the previous evening, near Port-Gentil's city centre.
Gabon Interior and Security Minister Jean-Francois Ndongou said a curfew, imposed in the city on Thursday evening, would remain in place until further notice. He also confirmed damage and pillaging in the capital.
Many Port-Gentil residents compared the unrest with sweeping violence that erupted in the city in 1990, when an opponent of former president Omar Bongo, who ruled for 41 years until his death in June, was found dead under suspicious circumstances.
France decided to evacuate its nationals out of Port-Gentil, considered the bastion of opposition to the Bongo family. Ten thousand French people elsewhere in Gabon were advised to stay in their homes.
French troops were put on duty around the debris of the consulate as groups of young Gabonese threatened French nationals, accusing Paris of colluding to fix the result of Sunday's election, a charge denied by France.
Gabon's interim defence minister Jean-Francois Ndongou, who replaced Bongo when he stepped down to contest the poll after his father's death, ruled out military intervention by former colonial ruler France to restore order.
He said Gabon "does not need" the help of French troops stationed there under a bilateral accord, adding: "We are not in a state of siege."
The minister said Gabon had enough troops to deal with the situation, stressing: "Up until now we have deployed only 30 per cent of our defence and security forces."
Ali Bongo was declared the winner with 42 per cent of votes cast in Sunday's election, putting him clearly ahead of his nearest rival Andre Mba Obame, a former interior minister, who won 26 per cent of votes.
Main opposition leader Pierre Mamboundou came third with 25 per cent. But all three had proclaimed victory after the polls closed.
Ali Bongo urged his defeated rivals to accept the outcome. "The people have spoken and the people are sovereign," he told France's Le Monde daily.
"The contest is now over... A majority has spoken in favour of a particular candidate. From today, he is now the president of the whole of Gabon."
Moved to a secret location, Mba Obame told AFP: "This is an electoral coup d'etat. I do not recognise the election results. It's me who won."
Security forces teargassed and baton-charged demonstrators, including Mba Obame and Mamboundou outside the electoral commission headquarters before the results were announced, witnesses and their supporters said.
The authorities denied there was any action against the opposition leaders.
On Friday, the African Union urged the Gabonese to show "great restraint", and abstain from acts compromising peace and security in the country.
Home to 1.5 million people, Gabon is strategically important as the fourth largest oil producer in sub-Saharan African. It is also a major exporter of manganese and wood.
- AFP/so
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