Libreville – Gabon was set to pay its final respects on Tuesday to Omar Bongo Ondimba, with a state funeral for the former president who ruled the oil-rich equatorial African country for 41 years.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was set to join more than a dozen heads of African states to pay their respects to Bongo, who died last week aged 73 at a private clinic in Spain.
The presidents of Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, France, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Senegal, Sao Tome and Togo have all confirmed attendance.