20120814
AFP
Gabon's interior ministry on Monday accused opposition leader and presidential claimant Andre Mba Obame of seeking to destabilise the central African country with calls for "insurrection and civil disobedience".

"In a speech marked with tribal and ethnic slurs, he called on his supporters for insurrection and civil disobedience, issued the threat of death to people in whose name he claimed to be speaking; all things that promote the destabilisation of institutions of the republic," the ministry said in a statement issued overnight.

A former member of the ruling party who went into opposition, Mba Obame returned to Gabon on Saturday after 14 months of convalescence abroad. His supporters were wary of hostile police action, but the security forces maintained a low profile at a rally of up to 3,000 people.

In his speech to the crowd, Mba Obame stated: "We are calling for a sovereign national conference. It's the only way of getting the country out of the crisis without bloodshed."

"Either there will be political violence or there will be a national conference. I think it's better to go straight to the conference. Because even when there's violence, we always end up round a table. Let's save time, lives and violence."

He called for a mass demonstration of support on Wednesday.

Mba Obame refused to recognise the electoral victory of Ali Bongo in 2009, and declared himself elected head of state in 2011, before taking refuge for more than a month on the premises of a UN agency in Libreville. He then left Gabon for France.

His parliamentary immunity has been lifted and he faces "from two months to a year in prison" if convicted of public order offences, according to his lawyer. His National Union (UN) political party has been dissolved and does not have the right to organise demonstrations.