Gabon police charge at protesters, beat AFP cameraman

Libreville (AFP) - Security forces in Gabon violently charged at demonstrators gathering Saturday in Libreville in the lead-up to presidential elections and beat an AFP cameraman covering the protest, a colleague said.

Defying a heavy police presence, hundreds of protesters took to the streets in opposition to President Ali Bongo Ondimba's candidacy for re-election on August 26, the AFP correspondent said.

Some 15 opposition leaders also attended the protest, forming a human chain at the front of the crowd. Among them was presidential candidate Guy Nzouba Ndama, the former parliamentary speaker.

The young protesters broke into song, chanting the national anthem as the security forces began firing tear gas at the crowd.

Police then moved to break up the protest and several shots were heard, according to the AFP journalist who saw 70-year-old Nzouba Ndama running for cover with other demonstrators.

Armed, masked members of the security forces grabbed the AFP journalist's cameraman colleague and threw him onto a pick-up truck, even though his camera was clearly marked.

Several officers beat him and then released him minutes later, along with his camera.

Suffering from back pain, the cameraman went to a Libreville hospital for X-rays.

Another journalist covering the protest was also harassed by the security forces, who seized his camera.

The UN under-secretary general for political affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, on Friday expressed his "deep concern over the growing tensions in the country" in the lead-up to the presidential vote.