Gabon: New Confusion Over Bongo

Michelle Poiré /UN
El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba, President of the Gabonese Republic.
8 June 2009
allAfrica.com

Gabon's government has denied reports that President Omar Bongo of Gabon has died in hospital in Barcelona, Spain.

Bongo was said by French media and government sources to have died, but Gabon's Prime Minister, Jean Eyeghe Ndong, contradicted the report, the Agence de Presse Sénégalaise (APS) reported from Dakar on Sunday.

News agencies reported on Monday that Ndong repeated his denial at a news conference at the Barcelona hospital where Bongo has been receiving treatment - reportedly for intestinal cancer - since early May.

The BBC quoted the Spanish government as confirming the denial.

Bongo's hospitalization has sparked debate about his successor in Gabon, which he has ruled since 1967. He is Africa's longest-serving ruler.

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