LIBREVILLE, Gabon — Omar Bongo of Gabon, one of the world’s longest ruling heads of state, was buried Thursday in his native province after a weeklong state funeral that saw nearly two dozen world leaders pay their respects.
LIBREVILLE, Gabon — Omar Bongo of Gabon, one of the world’s longest ruling heads of state, was buried Thursday in his native province after a week-long state funeral that saw nearly two dozen world leaders pay their respects. The 73-year-old Bongo became president in 1967 and died in office last week after a 41-year rule, longer than any other president except Cuba’s Fidel Castro and longer than any other head of state, except for the monarchs of Britain and Thailand. Bongo won successive elections in which no other candidates were allowed to run. When opposition parties first were allowed to form in 1990, he maintained his grip on power in the central African nation by allegedly buying off key opposition leaders. He benefited from the country’s oil boom, which pumped billions of dollars into the tiny nation of 1.5 million — money that was mostly siphoned off by the ruling elite, especially Bongo’s family, who used it to buy dozens of properties in Paris’ fanciest neighborhoods. The late president was flown Tuesday to Franceville, the capital of his native province located 300 miles (500 kilometers) from Libreville, after a large military parade and honors by the foreign heads of state. ______ Family members view the coffin of late Gabonese President Omar Bongo at the Presidential Palace in Libreville, Gabon, Tuesday, June 16, 2009. African heads of state and France’s president laid wreaths beside the coffin of Gabon’s late leader Omar Bongo as his official state funeral began Tuesday in the marble hall of the Central African nation’s presidential palace.(AP Photo/Sunday Alamba) Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
About Post Author
