MAX BLUMENTHAL Before his elimination in a military coup, Gabon's corrupt president, Ali Bongo, was courted by Obama and feted from Washington to Davos. The US war in Libya, which destabilized the region, might not have succeeded without him. When a military junta arrested President Ali Bongo Odinmba on August 30, Gabon became the ninth African nation to depose his government through a military coup.