Model fights for fair Gabon elections

PARIS: She's the face of L'Oreal and has sashayed down the runway for top designers like Emanuel Ungaro. Now model Gloria Mika (pictured) is leading a movement for fair elections in her native Gabon.

The 29-year-old cover girl born to a Greek mother and Gabonese father has spent the last few weeks on the phone, writing e-mails and responding to enquiries on her "Guardian Angels for Gabon" blog.

Mika, who stands a statuesque 1.88 meters, left Gabon when she was 16, when Omar Bongo was already in power for two decades and showed no signs of leaving.