Uncertainty surrounds the status of the presidents health

There are conflicting reports regarding the status of Gabonese President Omar Bongo's health remains uncertain, one day after French media sources reported that he had died in a Barcelona, Spain, clinic. According to unconfirmed reports on 7 June, Bongo died in Barcelona's private Quiron Clinic after a long battle with cancer. However, Gabon's Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong insists that Bongo is "alive and well," stating that he and Bongo's family members visited the president on 8 June; the Spanish foreign ministry has also stated that Bongo is still alive. Bongo has been receiving treatment at the Quiron clinic since mid-May 2009; he temporarily suspended his presidential duties earlier in the month, apparently in order to rest and mourn his wife, who died in March 2009.