The US has halted aid to Gabon following the coup last month.
“We are pausing certain foreign assistance programs that benefit the government of Gabon while we evaluate the unconstitutional intervention by members of the country’s military,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
According to the statement, the short-term measure was in line with responses to the coup from the African Union (AU), other international partners, and the Central African bloc in the region.
Following the coup, both the AU and the Economic Community of Central African States (Eccas) suspended Gabon’s membership.
The decision to halt aid to Gabon will stand “while we review the facts on the ground,” according to the state department.
However, it made note that operational activities in the nation, such as diplomatic and consular operations to support US citizens, were still ongoing.
President Ali Bongo of Gabon was deposed on August 30 by military authorities shortly after he was declared the winner of an election.
He had been in power since 2009, succeeding his father, Omar Bongo, who first became president in 1967.
The country would hold new elections within the following two years, a new prime minister appointed by the junta said earlier this month.
Source-BBC
