Gabon opposition chief claims election victory

LIBREVILLE — Gabon's main opposition candidate Jean Ping has claimed victory in weekend presidential polls, but incumbent Ali Bongo's camp said the call was "dangerous and illegal" before official results.

The official tally of votes will not be published until Tuesday and some voters voiced fears of a repeat of the violence seen after a disputed 2009 election.

"I have been elected. I am waiting for the outgoing president to call to congratulate me," Ping, 73, said on Sunday in the capital Libreville, prompting jubilation from hundreds of his supporters.

Bongo's spokesman however said the announcement was "dangerous," while his Interior Minister Pacome Moubelet Boubeya warned it was "illegal to declare results before the relevant authorities."

Bongo, in his first public remarks since Saturday's polls, told supporters: "We respect the law... so we are waiting calmly for Cenap (the national election commission) to announce the results of the election."

Bongo, 57, has been in power since the 2009 election held after the death of his father, Omar, who ruled Gabon for 41 years.

Ping, a career diplomat like the current president, worked for many years in Omar Bongo's administration. He has also served as head of the African Union and president of the UN General Assembly. "You have foiled the congenital fraud of this regime, which we are finally going to see off," Ping told his supporters on Sunday.

Ping met France's ambassador shortly afterwards, his team said. They also said he had beaten Bongo 60-to-40 in the 60 percent of ballots that had been counted. It was impossible to immediately verify the claim. Both frontrunners had already predicted victory and accused the other of cheating.

Shortly after polling ended on Saturday, the president's spokesman said: "Bongo will win ... we are already on our way to a second mandate."

The head of the Pan-African Democracy Observatory, an NGO based in Togo, played down the significance of Ping's declaration. "We should not be surprised if one or the other declares victory. It's all part of the game," Djovi Gally told reporters.