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French oil company Total evacuates staff in Port Gentil

Tuesday, 08 September 2009

French oil company Total evacuates staff in Port Gentil

The French oil company Total is reported to have evacuated staff from Port Gentil in Gabon after violence started in the area as a reaction to the release of the election results on Thursday.

Ex-pat employees of the firm are being moved to Gabon’s capital Libreville for their safety following the deaths of two people and attacks on buildings and sports clubs that are owned by Total.

Protesters are accusing France of helping to fix the election so that Ali Bongo got in as president, however, this is denied by the country. Bongo’s father died in June after having been the ruler of Gabon for 41 years.

In spite of a curfew that has been imposed, looting has carried on in Port Gentil.

Nevertheless, a football World Cup-qualifying match between Gabon and Cameroon has been allowed to go ahead despite the trouble in the country.

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