Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09LIBREVILLE104
2009-03-16 15:03:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Libreville
Cable title:
GABON: DEATH OF FIRST LADY EDITH BONGO
how-toVZCZCXRO0763 PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO DE RUEHLC #0104/01 0751503 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 161503Z MAR 09 FM AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0988 INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LIBREVILLE 000104
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR GB
SUBJECT: GABON: DEATH OF FIRST LADY EDITH BONGO
REF: LIBREVILLE 0052
Classified By: DCM Nate Holt for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).
------
Summary
-------
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LIBREVILLE 000104
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR GB
SUBJECT: GABON: DEATH OF FIRST LADY EDITH BONGO
REF: LIBREVILLE 0052
Classified By: DCM Nate Holt for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).
--------------
Summary
--------------
1. (U) Gabon has announced an indefinite mourning period for
Edith Bongo Ondimba, the wife of Gabonese President El Hadj
Omar Bongo Ondimba and the daughter of Republic of Congo
(Brazzaville) President Denis Sassou-Nguesso. Edith Bongo
died March 14 in Rabat, Morocco, after a protracted but
undisclosed illness. Embassy is grateful for the
Department's assistance in seeking an appropriate POTUS
condolence letter. End Summary.
--------------
Mysterious Illness
--------------
2. (U) Edith Bongo's death March 14 in Rabat came shortly
after Presidents Bongo and Sassou-Nguesso returned from
almost a month at her bedside. Edith Bongo had been sick for
over two years and was last seen in public in December 2006.
Mrs. Bongo was 45. She and President Bongo had two children,
a boy and a girl, both minors being educated in Europe.
3. (C) The reasons for Edith Bongo's sickness have never been
publicly disclosed. The best available information suggests
she had some kind of stroke. Her condition apparently took a
significant turn for the worse in February (reftel),
prompting both her husband and her father to rush to Rabat,
where she had been hospitalized. Though scientifically
implausible, many in Gabon credit rumors that she was the
victim of witchcraft.
--------------
National Mourning. and Uncertainty
Over Funeral Arrangements
--------------
4. (C) Hours after Mrs. Bongo's demise, a harried government
spokesman appeared on national television to announce that
the nation would be in mourning until the conclusion of Mrs.
Bongo's funeral services. Minister of Defense Ali Bongo,
President Bongo's son by a former marriage, appears to be
playing a key role in coordinating government affairs and in
making funeral and other arrangements.
5. (C) The date and location of Mrs. Bongo's funeral, and her
place of interment, have not yet been publicly disclosed.
Sources close to the Bongo family state that there have been
conflicts between the Bongos and the family of Congo
(Brazzaville) President Sassou-Nguesso during Mrs. Bongo's
long illness. These conflicts reportedly continued and
intensified during Mrs. Bongo's last weeks, when both
presidents were at her side in Morocco. Bongo family sources
say that President Sassou-Nguesso had agreed that Mrs. Bongo
could be buried in Gabon, but that Mrs. Bongo's mother
continued to insist on burial in Congo (Brazzaville).
6. (C) President Bongo, clearly grief-stricken, appeared on
national television a few hours after he had learned of his
wife's passing. Bongo was pictured receiving condolences
from ministers and other dignitaries, but did not speak. He
departed in the early morning hours of March 15 for Rabat.
Though Bongo has had many relationships and fathered many
children, those close to the President say Edith Bongo was
clearly first in his affections. They also point out that
Bongo has aged visibly and grown more "tired" since his
wife's illness.
--------------
Legacy of Good Works and
Large Property Holdings
--------------
7. (C) Edith Bongo will be remembered in Gabon for her work
on behalf of the handicapped and victims of HIV/AIDS. She
also proved to be a popular and effective campaigner for her
husband in the 2005 presidential election. Mrs. Bongo also
acquired great wealth as first lady, with significant
property holdings in both Gabon and France. The disposition
of this property could be a source of contention both within
the complex Bongo family, and between the Bongos and the
Sassou-Nguessos.
8. (U) On March 16, the state-owned newspaper l'Union
published an unusually personal note from French President
Nicolas Sarkozy offering Bongo "profound sympathy more as a
friend than a Head of State." Embassy Libreville understands
that the Department is working to obtain a message of
LIBREVILLE 00000104 002 OF 002
condolence from POTUS, which will be very well received.
Bongo is Africa's longest-serving head of state.
REDDICK
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR GB
SUBJECT: GABON: DEATH OF FIRST LADY EDITH BONGO
REF: LIBREVILLE 0052
Classified By: DCM Nate Holt for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).
--------------
Summary
--------------
1. (U) Gabon has announced an indefinite mourning period for
Edith Bongo Ondimba, the wife of Gabonese President El Hadj
Omar Bongo Ondimba and the daughter of Republic of Congo
(Brazzaville) President Denis Sassou-Nguesso. Edith Bongo
died March 14 in Rabat, Morocco, after a protracted but
undisclosed illness. Embassy is grateful for the
Department's assistance in seeking an appropriate POTUS
condolence letter. End Summary.
--------------
Mysterious Illness
--------------
2. (U) Edith Bongo's death March 14 in Rabat came shortly
after Presidents Bongo and Sassou-Nguesso returned from
almost a month at her bedside. Edith Bongo had been sick for
over two years and was last seen in public in December 2006.
Mrs. Bongo was 45. She and President Bongo had two children,
a boy and a girl, both minors being educated in Europe.
3. (C) The reasons for Edith Bongo's sickness have never been
publicly disclosed. The best available information suggests
she had some kind of stroke. Her condition apparently took a
significant turn for the worse in February (reftel),
prompting both her husband and her father to rush to Rabat,
where she had been hospitalized. Though scientifically
implausible, many in Gabon credit rumors that she was the
victim of witchcraft.
--------------
National Mourning. and Uncertainty
Over Funeral Arrangements
--------------
4. (C) Hours after Mrs. Bongo's demise, a harried government
spokesman appeared on national television to announce that
the nation would be in mourning until the conclusion of Mrs.
Bongo's funeral services. Minister of Defense Ali Bongo,
President Bongo's son by a former marriage, appears to be
playing a key role in coordinating government affairs and in
making funeral and other arrangements.
5. (C) The date and location of Mrs. Bongo's funeral, and her
place of interment, have not yet been publicly disclosed.
Sources close to the Bongo family state that there have been
conflicts between the Bongos and the family of Congo
(Brazzaville) President Sassou-Nguesso during Mrs. Bongo's
long illness. These conflicts reportedly continued and
intensified during Mrs. Bongo's last weeks, when both
presidents were at her side in Morocco. Bongo family sources
say that President Sassou-Nguesso had agreed that Mrs. Bongo
could be buried in Gabon, but that Mrs. Bongo's mother
continued to insist on burial in Congo (Brazzaville).
6. (C) President Bongo, clearly grief-stricken, appeared on
national television a few hours after he had learned of his
wife's passing. Bongo was pictured receiving condolences
from ministers and other dignitaries, but did not speak. He
departed in the early morning hours of March 15 for Rabat.
Though Bongo has had many relationships and fathered many
children, those close to the President say Edith Bongo was
clearly first in his affections. They also point out that
Bongo has aged visibly and grown more "tired" since his
wife's illness.
--------------
Legacy of Good Works and
Large Property Holdings
--------------
7. (C) Edith Bongo will be remembered in Gabon for her work
on behalf of the handicapped and victims of HIV/AIDS. She
also proved to be a popular and effective campaigner for her
husband in the 2005 presidential election. Mrs. Bongo also
acquired great wealth as first lady, with significant
property holdings in both Gabon and France. The disposition
of this property could be a source of contention both within
the complex Bongo family, and between the Bongos and the
Sassou-Nguessos.
8. (U) On March 16, the state-owned newspaper l'Union
published an unusually personal note from French President
Nicolas Sarkozy offering Bongo "profound sympathy more as a
friend than a Head of State." Embassy Libreville understands
that the Department is working to obtain a message of
LIBREVILLE 00000104 002 OF 002
condolence from POTUS, which will be very well received.
Bongo is Africa's longest-serving head of state.
REDDICK