The masterminds of the attempted coup in Gabon have not yet been arrested, a military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters news agency.

Young soldiers took control of the state radio station this morning and broadcast a plea for Gabonese people to rise up.

Government spokesman Guy-Bertrand Mapangou said that four of those five officers were arrested. A fifth officer fled and is being pursued, he said.

Outside the radio station, loyalist soldiers fired teargas to disperse about 300 people who had come out into the streets to support the coup attempt, a Reuters witness said. Helicopters circled overhead, they added.

While the radio station has been surrounded by the elite republican guard, the anonymous source suggests that the people behind the coup attempt could still be free.