The foreign minister of Gabon, Michael Moussa Adamo, passed away on Friday after suffering a heart attack according to a government statement.

A number of government sources said Adamo, who was 62 years old, went into cardiac arrest while attending a ministers meeting. The foreign minister was rushed to hospital but died a short while later.

"The medical team at the presidential palace took him in immediately after his illness. He had to be taken unconscious by ambulance to the Omar Bongo Ondimba military hospital where he was placed in resuscitation but, despite the efforts of specialists, the death was noted at 12:12 local time (11:12 UTC)," a source speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP news agency.

'A great loss for Gabon' — President Bongo

Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba reacted to Adamo's death on Twitter and said: "He was a great diplomat, a true statesman. For me, he was first and foremost a loyal and faithful friend, on whom I could always count. It is a great loss for Gabon."

Adamo served as Bongo's special advisor after his election as president in 2009.

After then serving as Gabon's ambassador to the US for a decade he went on to serve as the defence minister and was then appointed foreign minister in March 2022.

kb/rt (AFP, Reuters)