By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is pausing certain&nbsp;foreign&nbsp;assistance&nbsp;programs&nbsp;benefiting the government of&nbsp;Gabon&nbsp;following last month's&nbsp;coup, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement released by the U.S. State Department on Tuesday.
THE TAKE
The U.S. is holding back&nbsp;assistance&nbsp;that might aid the&nbsp;Gabon&nbsp;government but continuing operational activities in the country, including diplomatic and consular operations supporting U.S. citizens.
The move is in line with steps taken by Economic Community of Central African States, the African Union, and other international partners.
KEY QUOTE
"The U.S. government is pausing certain&nbsp;foreign&nbsp;assistance&nbsp;programs&nbsp;benefiting the government of&nbsp;Gabon&nbsp;while we evaluate the unconstitutional intervention by members of the country&rsquo;s military," Blinken said.
CONTEXT
* Army officers in&nbsp;Gabon&nbsp;seized power on Aug. 30, annulling an election minutes&nbsp;after&nbsp;an announcement that President Ali Bongo had won, which they said was not credible. Bongo had been in power since 2009.
* The junta has promised to oversee free and fair elections, but has not given a precise timetable for organising them.
* A 24-month transition to elections in&nbsp;Gabon&nbsp;would be "reasonable"&nbsp;after&nbsp;last month's&nbsp;coup, junta-appointed Prime Minister Raymond Ndong Sima was quoted as saying by French news agency AFP earlier this month.
* The Bongo family's dynastic rule in the Central African oil producer had created widespread discontent, with critics saying the Bongos did little to share&nbsp;Gabon's wealth with its 2.3 million people.
* The African Union suspended&nbsp;Gabon's membership following the&nbsp;coup.
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(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Sonali Paul)

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US pauses some foreign assistance programs for Gabon after coup