A media crackdown in Gabon left people today searching for loved ones aided mainly by rumour and hope, following days of violence since the announcement that President Ali Bongo had been re-elected.
The post-election violence has so far claimed seven lives throughout the country, according to an AFP count; six civilians, mainly in the capital Libreville, and a police officer in the main northern town of Oyem.
Rumours of a higher death toll, notably in the economic capital Port-Gentil, have been swirling around despite the lack of any internet access.
Some 800 people have been arrested in the capital since the last weekend's election result was announced on Wednesday, according to official figures.
"We are calling for the list of those arrested" and which police stations they are being held in, said lawyer Jean-Pierre Akumbu M'Oluna.
Bongo was declared victorious by a razor-thin margin of just under 6,000 votes, but his main challenger Jean Ping, a veteran diplomat and former top African Union official, has insisted the vote was rigged and on Friday claimed victory for himself.
"The whole world knows who is president of the republic, it's me Jean Ping," he said.
Ping is calling for vote recount, something the Gabonese authorities have categorically refused to contemplate.
The post-vote violence in this small but oil-rich central African nation, a former French colony, has sparked international concern with top diplomats calling for restraint as rights groups raise the alarm over the use of "excessive force".
In a special session on Gabon on Thursday, the UN Security Council expressed "deep concern" about the situation, urging all sides to "to refrain from violence or other provocations".
And Washington has urged all parties to work together to "halt the slide towards further unrest."
Two people in Libreville told AFP today that they are still searching for loved ones missing since Wednesday night, when security forces stormed Ping's offices.
"I'm looking for my son, Jocelyn. He was at Jean Ping's headquarters," said a woman who gave her name as Jacqueline.
A man, who preferred to remain anonymous, said he'd had no news of his brother since Wednesday.
"He's married, father of four children," said the man who has searched police stations, hospitals and even funeral parlours.
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