Omar Bongo is dead

Africa’s longest serving leader Gabon president, Omar Bongo has died of a heart attack while undergoing treatment in a Spanish Clinic. He was 73 years-old.

Concerns over Bongo’s health grew last month after he suspended his functions as head of state for the first time since he took power in 1967. He was then checked into the Quiron clinic in Barcelona, officially to rest.

Bongo’s death leaves a political void in the central African oil-producing nation he tightly controlled for four decades.

There have been some concerns about stability, analysts say that the ruling party is likely to tightly manage the transition of power and that Bongo’s successes in easy ethnic tensions will reduce the risk of turmoil.

Gabon’s opposition say Bongo’s son, Defence Minister Ali Ben Bongo, is being groomed to step in and question whether elections in the country would be fair.

Copyright © 2012 euronews