 French authorities first received information on the coup not from Cousseran but rather from Bongo, giving him some standing among them. President de Gaulle, upon advice from his chief adviser on African policy, Jacques Foccart, decided that he would restore the legitimate government. This was in accordance with a 1960 treaty between Gabon and the French, which was ironically signed by Aubame in his stint as Foreign Minister. Foccart, on the other hand, had only decided to launch the countercoup to protect the interests of the French petroleum group Elf, which operated in Gabon and was led by a close friend of his. M 'ba was also a close friend of his; David Yates reports that M'ba could call Foccart personally, and Foccart would meet with him "at a moment's notice". French commentators, however, claimed that if they did not intervene, they would be tempting other dissidents. France had refrained from intervening in recent coups in the French Congo, Dahomey, and Togo, despite being opposed to all of them. However, the Gabon coup differed in that, they claimed, it lacked notable public support. Following the restoration of M'ba's government in Gabon, the French intervened militarily in Africa roughly every other year. In 1995, the French Minister for Foreign Assistance Jacques Godfrain explained that Paris "will intervene each time an elected democratic power is overthrown by a coup d'état if a military cooperation agreement exists".
