Gabon President Omar Bongo dead in Barcelona

Gabon President Omar Bongo dead: France

1 hour ago

PARIS (AFP) — Gabon President Omar Bongo Ondimba, Africa's longest serving leader, has died aged 73 in a Spanish clinic, a French government source said Sunday.

Bongo, who has led the former French colony in west Africa since 1967, had officially been in a clinic in Barcelona for a check-up but several sources said he was being treated for cancer.

"He was a great figure of Africa," a "man who had influence," French Defence Minister Herve Morin told French television.

There was no official confirmation late Sunday from either Gabon or from the French government that Bongo was dead.

Bongo came to power in 1967 with French support and with Paris' blessing has ever since ruled over a one-party state that grew rich on abundant oil reserves while most of the 1.5 million population remain impoverished.

Bongo's last months were marked by a row with Paris over a French public television report on luxury properties he had bought and claims by anti-corruption activists that they were acquired with embezzled state funds.

A French court decision in February to freeze Bongo's bank accounts added fuel to the fire and Bongo's government accused France of waging a "campaign to destabilise" the African nation.

Gabon had also been angered by French media coverage of the hospitalisation of its president, accusing French satellite broadcasters of reporting "non-official and alarmist" information on Bongo's condition.

Bongo had announced on May 6 that he was temporarily suspending his duties in order to rest and mourn the death in March of his 45-year-old wife Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba.

His wife, who was the daughter of Congo President Nguesso, died in Morocco in March after a long illness.