MANY GABONESE ANGERED BY PARIS; Intervention to Crush Coup Sets Off Controversy

LIBREVILLE, Gabon, Feb. 21 —The armed French intervention that crushed the coup d'etat here and reinstated President Leon Mba yesterday has set off a controversy over the role of European powers in African crises.

In Libreville, President Mba's supporters are elated with France's decisiveness. France's action has also received prompt backing from several African heads of state who also have mutual‐defense pacts with Paris providing for French assistance in maintaining order and combating subversion.

But to the considerable number of Gabonese who sided with the leaders of the coup, France's role was a violation of African sovereigntv.

“Of course coups are illegal,” said a member of the Gabonese Opposition yesterday. “But how free is a country when a foreign power is the sole arbiter of when a coup is popular and when it is not ?”

His comment reflected the recollection that in three successful coups in former French colonies of West Africa—in the Congo Republic, in Dahomey and in Togo—French forces remained neutral.

Discontent Deeply Rooted

Several facts that were obscure when the coup began have become clear.

The uprising was not merely a mutiny of disgruntled troops seeking higher pay or the ouster of white officers, as occurred recently in East Africa.

It was a carefuily plotted attempt to overthrow the Government, and it had the backing of much of the army and the police, and at least the tacit approval of the Gabonese Democratic and Social Union, an opposition party.

Thus far President Mba has resisted French pressure to soften his punishment of the plotters and to permit the opposition to participate in the election.

For many years Mr. Mba's Gabonese Democratic Bloc and the Gabonese Democratic and Social Union have been almost equaily strong. When Gabon became independent in 1960 the coalition government that was formed included many opposition members in important ministerial posts. But the coalition broke down last year.

For 24 hours after Mr. Mba was seized in the presidential palace, the coup appeared to have been a complete success. It had been a bloodless takeover. Insurgent troops guarded the main public buildings, and life in Libreville was beginning to return to normal as the first French troops were taking off from the neighboring Congo Republic.

President Mba, put on the air, announced his resignation. and a young rebel lieutenant then proclaimed the formation of a provisional government headed by Jean‐Hilaire Aubame, a highly respected leader of the opposition who served as Mr. Mba's Foreign Minister until last year.

But the insurgents overlooked one precaution: They left the airport unguarded. French troops debarked without firing a shot.

18 Killed, 40 Wounded

French ground forces, backed by strafing planes, assaulted the Baraka military camp at dawn the next morning. After a five‐hour battle, in which at least 18 Gabonese were killed and more than 40 wounded, the defenders were overwhelmed in a frontal attack.

What prompted the coup? The main reason given by the rebels was Mr. Mba's refusal to list opposition candidates in the National Assembly election scheduled for Sunday. The election has now been postponed for a week.

There are few basic ideological differences between the parties, but Mr. Aubame and his followers have espoused more socialism, less economic dependence on France and more rapid “Africanization” of positions now held by French advisers.

There remains the problem of how Africa, through the Organization of African Unity, can maintain its security without having to call on former colonial masters in emergencies.

Last week Tanganyika raised the issue of security at a special meeting of the African foreign ministers in her capital, Dar es Salaam. After this week's events in Gabon, the security question will return to the top of the agenda when the foreign ministers reassemble in Lagos, Nigeria, this Tuesday for what was to be a routine meeting.