UN chief urges calm in Gabon

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged calm in Gabon after Gabonese security forces stormed the headquarters of the defeated presidential candidate, Jean Ping, accusing "armed criminals" of torching the parliament.

Ping said two people had been killed as live shots were fired, the BBC reported on Thursday.

His supporters had been staging protests after official results gave President Ali Bongo a narrow victory in Saturday's presidential election.

The election result in Gabon, announced on Wednesday afternoon, gave Bongo a second seven-year term with 49.8% of the vote to Ping's 48.2% - a margin of 5,594 votes.

But Ping disputes the result in one province which shows a 99.93% turnout with 95% voting for Ali Bongo.

Ping said the election was fraudulent and "everybody knows" he won.

He also denounced the raid which happened while he was not in the building.

Meanwhile, Ping has called for international assistance to protect the population and has called for voting figures from each polling station to be made public.

Source: MENA