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By Antoine Lawson LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - The government of Gabon President Omar Bongo stationed troops on the capital's street corners overnight and said its soldiers would shoot without warning to stop any violent protests against his re-election. Extra troops were deployed in the oceanside capital Libreville after rioting on Thursday by supporters of two leading opposition candidates who say Sunday's presidential election was rigged to give Bongo a new seven-year term. Africa's longest serving leader demanded an end to protests late on Friday in an address on state television, marking his first public comments since he won the November 27 elections. "Now that the election is successfully over things must resume their normal course ... In short, no disorder will be tolerated," Bongo said. "I ask you compatriots not to create pointless tensions. You must stop all declarations that divide the Gabonese people and that lead to acts of violence and looting," he said. Prime Minister Jean-Francois Ntoutoume Emane said the government had given the security forces permission to shoot without warning after unrest in Libreville and other towns left at least one person dead. Convoys of military vehicles appeared at major junctions around the city through the night. The streets were quiet early on Saturday as many people stayed at home. The security forces detained 23 people after Thursday's brief rioting in the capital, in which protesters smashed the windows of several shops and cars before they were dispersed by riot police wielding batons. The security forces said one person had been killed and several injured in the Rio suburb of the Libreville, a city of luxurious oceanfront hotels and shabby, pot-holed backstreets. The violence followed a declaration by the constitutional court that Bongo, who has ruled the oil-producing Central African state since 1967, had won 79.2 percent of the vote. International observers said the polls went smoothly and did not report any fraud but the two main defeated candidates, Pierre Mamboundou and Zacharie Myboto, have rejected the results and called on citizens to "rise and march peacefully". They say Sunday's polls were riddled with irregularities, including ballot-box stuffing and votes cast in the name of dead people, and plan to appeal to the constitutional court. The unrest in Libreville followed riots on Wednesday in the central town of Lambarene by opposition demonstrators protesting against Bongo's victory. The opposition said one person was killed and three injured in the Lambarene riots but authorities, while they acknowledged there had been disturbances, did not confirm any casualties. Mamboundou, who came second in the previous presidential election in 1998, finished well behind Bongo in Sunday's poll with 13.6 percent of the vote, according to official results. Bongo's former ally and minister Myboto won 6.6 percent.
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