Gabon prime minister says not aware of president's death
AFP
LIBREVILLE - Gabon Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong told national television on Sunday that he was "not aware" of the reported death of President Omar Bongo Ondimba.
"I was very surprised, like many of my compatriots, to learn of the death of of the Gabonese president via French television," he said.
"His family knows that in Gabon there is a chain of government. If such a situation comes about, I would think that the president's family would naturally get in touch with me.
"As we speak, that is not the case."
A French government source said earlier Sunday night that Africa's longest serving leader, had died aged 73.
Bongo, at the head of 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.
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