"I am calling for calm and serenity of heart and reverence to preserve the unity and peace so dear to our late father," said Bongo, who is considered one of the leading candidates to step into the president's post.

Bongo said he was speaking as a member of the family and not as minister of defence.

"In these difficult circumstances, love of one's homeland should give one pause and constitue a sacred duty for all children of Gabon," he said in a speech broadcast on Gabonese television.

Earlier in the evening after news of his father's death was announced, the defence minister had ordered the country's borders to be closed and sensitive buildings to be secured.

The situation was calm in Libreville at 9:00pm (2000 GMT).

Ali Ben Bongo, 50, a former foreign minister, was reshuffled by his father in 1999 to head the crucial defence ministry, a move seen as a bid to pre-empt any would-be coups and to shore up the chances of him succeeding him.

Gabon declared 30 days' mourning and ordered flags to be flown at half-mast after the death of Africa's longest-serving leader.

Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong announced earlier that the president died of a heart attack in a clinic in Barcelona, Spain, and called for calm.

President Bongo, who had ruled the former French colony in west Africa since 1967, was understood to have been treated in a private clinic in Barcelona for intestinal cancer.

On Monday, police and troops were posted at key points across Libreville, while residents complained that Internet access was cut, depriving them of international news.

Share This Article With Planet Earth

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Related Links
Africa News - Resources, Health, Food

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News