Presidential elections in Gabon were mired with accusations of fraud as Ali Bongo, son of recently-deceased president, Omar Bongo, was declared the victor. Post-electoral violence lead to the torching of French consulate in Port-Gentil, a city that also hosts the offices of French oil company Total.

In Madagascar, promising peace talks initiated in Maputo by an international mediation group eventually fizzled and today, protests were violently repressed by the transitional government. In the capital, Antananarivo, a few protesters were seen harassing vazaha ( foreigners) near hotel Glacier as military forces repressed protests against the formation of a government that did not include all the political groups as was agreed during the Maputo peace talks.

And in Mauritania, General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who took over after a coup d' etat a year ago, saw his power legitimized in an election that his opponents consider as potentially fraudulent. Yet Mauritanians wonder why France was one of the first nations to recognize (fr) the outcome of the elections.

The notion of Francafrique is such a widely accepted concept that in January 2008, former French Secretary of State for Overseas Development, Jean-Marie Bockel, stated that he was willing to “sign the death certificate of Françafrique”

The cozy living conditions that African leaders enjoy in France has been well-documented. The map of real estate properties in Paris of family of African dictators published by Rue89 is a telling evidence that France's effort to distance themselves from dictators is more words than action. The NGO cellule Francafrique lists details of evidences supporting the Francafrique concept with reports and photos on flickr.

For instance, Malagasy and French blogs were quick to point out that French Ambassador Chataignier was the first foreign officer to meet with Rajoelina the day after the coup d'etat in Madagascar. Malagasy blogger NJ links to the following video that aims to explain how Francafrique works in Madagascar:

A reason bloggers often cite for France's involvement in Madagascar is the potential for oil farming in the region of Bemolanga. Total has acquired 60% ownership of the Basin and is expected to produce 180,000 barrels of oil per day for more than 30 years. Reuters reports that the reserve of Tsimiroro could produce 1.7 billions barrels.

The enduring resentment towards France's actions for what is perceived, rightfully or not, as deleterious mingling into Africa's own development has sometimes taken violent proportions.

However, one Malagasy blogger Vony offers an alternative to anger towards French citizen in reaction to Francafrique. Vony writes in an open letter to French citizens in Madagascar (fr):

On dit que vous, Français, venez du pays des droits de l’Homme

Mais on sait aussi que vous vivez désormais dans un pays où la terreur règne,
Parce que Madagascar est aussi une partie de votre histoire, nous vous demandons
solennellement de nous soutenir et nous aider à retrouver notre dignité de
Malgaches et notre fierté de vivre sur cette île [..] Nous Malgaches au pays, en France et à l’étranger faisons appel à votre solidarité envers votre peuple ami et à votre foi en la démocratie et le respect des droits de l’Homme.
Parce que vous êtes aussi menacés par l’avenir sombre et désastreux qui nous guettent tous, , ne détournez pas les yeux mais tendez nous la main pour mieux dénoncer ce que vous ne toléreriez pas dans votre propre pays!

Tahina writes about yesterday's violence and how it brought back traumatic memories:

My bus line passes through the 13 Mai Square, a hot spot if not the hottest after the Ambohijatovo Park. And this logical question asked to the conducteur before getting on the bus “Do you go till Analakely?”, “Yes, Sir.” Along the street you pay attention to any abnormal things, people gathering at one place, suspicious traffic, you to stretch your ears to over hear others’ conversations. You take out your mobile and try to call someone who’s supposed to be downtown to know if he’s safe and ask him what he’s witnessed. All of that recalls me bad things. Things that I’m likely to live again in the days to come.

In Gabon, Malagasy blogger Harinjaka, who is currently based in Libreville, writes about potential evidence of fraud that led to Ali Bongo's victory:

of the cards featured in the image above, the one on the left is authentic, while the one on the right has been forged. The difference is quite clear - the one on the left has been stamped after the photo was attached, whereas the photo on the right was not stamped with the card, meaning that the photo can be changed - so that several people can vote with the same electoral card.

Here is a video of a Gabonese woman accuses France of being directly responsible for Bongo's fraudulent election (fr):

Such statements have often been dismissed in the West as nothing more than conspiracy theories. Unfortunately, the recent turmoils in Gabon, Mauritania and Madagascar have made Francafrique feel very real to African bloggers and citizens.

On August 12, the Peace Corps suspended their program in Mauritania, citing safety and security concerns.

A Peace Corps volunteer stationed in Mauritania provides her perspective at Becky's Mauritanian Adventures:

As you've noticed, there has been a lot of instability in Mauritania since the beginning of my service last year. As I suspected, they have decided we will not be allowed to return to Mauritania. Today was obviously a very sad day for all of us, but I'm trying to remember that this also opens up a whole world of possibilities for the future. I will be back in America (again) probably within the next week. I've got a lot of ideas about what comes next, but I'm pretty sure it involves more Peace Corps service. I'm not going to write all the details here, because I don't know them all, but I'll be sure to keep you all updated.

Assessing the situation, news blog Newstime Africa stated [Ed. note: the post has since been deleted]:

The deci­sion to close the Peace Corps Cen­tre in the coun­try came as a sur­prise to the nation because the vol­un­teers were really help­ful to the peo­ple. The Peace Corps whose head­quar­ters is in Wash­ing­ton is active in 74 coun­tries around the globe. Since 1967, the Peace Corps started imple­ment­ing human­i­tar­ian pro­gramme in the Islamic Empire of Sand; more espe­cially in the agri­cul­tural, health and edu­ca­tional sec­tor and they have largely improved the stan­dard of edu­ca­tion in the coun­try even though major­ity of the peo­ple pre­fer Islamic edu­ca­tion to west­ern one. Their depar­ture have caused a big blow to the gov­ern­ment more espe­cially the rural peo­ple who have become more accus­tomed to them due to their gen­eros­ity. Pres­i­dent Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has promised to fight against the extrem­ists in all form deem best for the secu­rity of the coun­try.

The blogger went on to say:

Mean­while the for­ma­tion of the new gov­ern­ment which com­prised of twenty one min­is­ters is still the talk of the coun­try, four days after their nom­i­na­tion. They are all edu­cated elites with supe­rior diplo­mas in var­i­ous Uni­ver­si­ties and insti­tu­tions both in the coun­try and out­side.

More specifically, the talk of the country (or at least the blogosphere) is Naha Bint Hamdi Ould Mouknass, recently appointed by the government to the position of foreign minister; As blogger The Moor Next Door points out:

Ms. Bint Ould Mouknass is the first woman to hold the post in any Arabic-speaking country; she is joined by five other female appointees in General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz’s government.

The blogger goes on to explain the significance of this posting:

Her appointment is at once clever and utilitarian: Bint Mouknass’s appointment, like that of her predecessor, is an attempt to appeal to outside audiences with a fresh and “soft” face. The General is also offering spoils to his supporters (more on this later). It also puts a wedge between the new government and the Islamist movement, whose policy it co-opted prior to (and during, mind you) the presidential election (e.g., Israel), it is thought to be politically beneficial to act contra the movement’s ideology, thereby clearly distinguishing himself from it, especially in light of his efforts to “fight terrorism,” though this was surely thought up well before last week’s suicide bombing (and likely without their possibility in mind).

The attack came three days after Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who toppled Mauritania's first democratically elected leader in a military coup last year, was sworn in as president of the Saharan country after winning an election last month.

The Moor Next Door has penned a detailed piece on the incident, painting a picture of a public furious at the attack but even more frustrated by the regime:

Responses to articles on the attack in the Arabic internet media are telling. A response to an initial report on the attack exclaimed “rid us of the General and then we will call you a shahid (martyr)!” Others decry the attacker’s stupidity, mocking his Haratine origins. The Mauritanians are angry, as they have been in the wake of just about every terrorist attack over the last however many years. As much as there is disgust and frustration with the bombing, much of that is channeled back at the regime. While the bombing is the biggest Mauritanian “story” to catch western media attention since the election Mauritanians are more concerned with other troubles related to legitimacy and creeping despotism.

Peace Corps blogger Becky, who is serving in Mauritania, notes the possibility that Peace Corps volunteers serving in the country may be sent home and laments:

This has been a somber day for Peace Corp Mauritanian volunteers. Not just because it puts our future in jeopardy, but also because a country that we have grown to call home will now be thought of by the world as a dangerous and unstable place. We are always reminded that terrorists are extremists and do not represent the mainstream thinking. It will be very difficult for me to leave all those people who have done nothing wrong, although those that I have spoken to do understand.

Mauritanian Twitter user weddady expresses frustration in his Twitter feed, noting:

Although few bloggers are discussing the matter as of yet, France has condemned the attack, and new president Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz has warned of future terrorist attacks.

Maghreb Blog explains the candidates:

Mauritanians head to the polls today in landmark presidential elections. The front runner is Ould Abdel Aziz, former junta leader who is running on a platform based on populism and being anti-Israel. Ould Abdel Aziz has also called for an end to corruption and instituting principles for good governance. According to recent polls, General Ould Abdel Aziz is trailed by Ahmed Ould Dada and Messaoud Ould Boulkheir. The former's agenda emphasizes the morals and values of “justice, equity, tolerance.” Ould Boulkheir has espoused ideals of democracy and human rights, and has pledged his support for trade unions.

The Moor Next Door, based in the U.S., boldly calls fraud, stating:

The Ould Daddah and Boulkheir campaigns are now best described as “in shock”: the numbers coming out since the polls closed are showing massive majorities for General Ould Abdel Aziz. In Nouadhibou, sixty-five precincts are showing the same results in favor of Ould Abdel Aziz. The question: how? The answer: fraud. Their reactions now will determine what is possible tomorrow and in the days afterward.

The blogger reminds us:

General Ould Abdel Aziz has lead Mauritania in three substantial campaigns: The Good Coup (2005), the Rejected Coup (2008) and, now, the Constitutional Coup (2009).

U.S.-based self-described African blogger A Bombastic Element calls a spade a spade:

The BBC is reporting that coup leader General Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, who relinquished power and turned civilian in order to run in Saturday's elections, is about to pull off a “Musharraf.”

As bloggers wait for results to be finalized, one - an artist living in Nouakchott, offers this sketch of election day in Nouadhibou:

Twitter users utilize hashtags to aggregate their content; users can then go to Twitter Search and look for content on a particular subject. In this case, the most utilized hashtag is #gaza, while #gazawarofwords is tracking media bias. A search for other hashtags being used to discuss Gaza brings up #israel, #syria, #baghdad, #2states, and #rafah, among others. Users also “re-tweet” information from other users in an effort to disseminate it quickly; an example:

The real-time shelisrael, a Twitter user in California, noted early on yesterday that Twitter is one of the first platforms to enable such open discussion:

Since that point, the world has been engaged in sometimes healthy debate, other times expressing rage, and most importantly, reporting news; the following example includes participants from Palestine, Mauritania, and San Francisco (US):

The nature of the discussion provokes heated questions and arguments. skinner, from Oxford, UK via Amman, Jordan, asks:

YaelBeeri, an Israeli Twitter user, points out the diversity of opinion in the Twittersphere:

Another fascinating feature of the Twitter discussion is the analysis of media coverage. #gazawarofwords, a hashtag started by Twitter user weddady, provides a central point of aggregation for such reporting:

The best way to follow Twitter updates is by looking to the source; Twitter Search RSS feeds for any hashtag or search term (e.g. #gaza) and participating is easy.