France says working with partners to resolve Gabon crisis

PARIS (Reuters) - France said on Friday it was working with all sides in Gabon to find a quick solution to the crisis and urged the Gabonese authorities to release opposition members to help ease the situation. "The French authorities are in contact with all parties, including our African and international partners, to find a quick solution to this crisis," Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement. He said that opposition members surrounded at the headquarters of their leader Jean Ping should be released for health reasons, but also because it was against all legal frameworks. "We ask the Gabonese authorities to resolve this immediately by restoring the freedom of movement to the people concerned. This gesture would help restore calm," he said. (Reporting By John Irish; Editing by Dominic Evans)