Africa

Africa

Guinea-Bissau leader dies in Paris

09 January 2012 16:42 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Guinea-Bissau’s President Malam Bacai Sanha has died in hospital in Paris, according to a statement from his office read over national radio, AFP reports.
The 64-year-old president had travelled to France for medical treatment in late November after being taken seriously ill. The statement from the president’s office announced "with pain and sadness" that Mr Sanha died at the Val-de-Grace military hospital in Paris where he had been receiving treatment. The nature of his illness has not been made public but he was thought to suffer from diabetes. A French official told news agencies that the president had been in a coma prior to his death.
Malam Bacai Sanha became president of Guinea-Bissau in September 2009. His predecessor as president, Joao Bernardo Vieira, was assassinated by mutinous soldiers in March 2009. Sanha was one of the influential politicians of his country and took different high offices in the past 20 years.