LIBREVILLE, Nov. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Anyone who would like to know how to rule a country for decades should consult Gabonese President Bongo Ondimba who has been in power for 38 years and is seeking another term.

    He is now going to compete in Sunday's presidential elections for another seven-year term, and he is widely considered to be reelected in defiance of the challenge from four other candidates.

    Born Albert Bernard Bongo in 1935, he changed his name to El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba when he converted to Islam in 1973.

    He went to school in Brazzaville, and received military training in Chad. He is married and has more than 30 children, though not all of them with his wife.

    Bongo's political career kicked off after he won the trust of the father of Gabon's independence, president Leon M'ba. He was appointed the director in the president's office in 1962, when he was only 27 years old.

    Having remained faithful to M'ba when the military tried to seize power, Bongo was rewarded with the vice presidency in 1967. When M'ba died after a short illness in the same year, Bongo was the obvious successor.

    In the early 1990s, Omar Bongo ended the one-party domination of the Gabonese Democratic Party and allowed multiparty elections in response to popular demand. These elections were held in 1993 and 1998; Bongo won both times, taking 51.2 percent and 66.88 percent of the vote respectively.

    In 2003, the constitution was changed to eliminate any restrictions on the number of terms a president can serve, as Bongo thinks that it is better to have authoritarian government than democracy in Africa, because of tribal loyalties.

    Bongo's son Ali-Ben Bongo was the foreign minister from 1989 to1991 and became the defense minister in 1999.

    Bongo's wife is the daughter of Congolese President Denis Sassou-Nguesso. Bongo is also one of the wealthiest heads of state in the world, and this is attributed mainly to oil revenue.

    The president of Gabon has also been credited for his efforts to restore peace and stability throughout Central Africa, in particular the Republic of the Congo, Chad, the Central African Republic and Sao Tome and Principe.

    In October 2001, the former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, serving as mediator in the political and ethnic crisis of Burundi, entrusted Bongo with the mission to pursue negotiations with the armed movements of Burundi.

    Mandela has great respect and appreciation for President Bongo as Bongo was one of the few who supported him financially during his exile.

    Recently Bongo co-chaired the 60th anniversary of the United Nations, alongside Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson, which was held in September, 2005. Bongo opened the event with an appeal for worldwide action to prevent conflict and genocide. The president echoed the sentiment of Sweden's prime minister, calling on the UN Summit to "act together to give our future generations a better world."

    Bongo also focused his efforts on the plight of Africa, seeking more support for the promotion of human rights and conflict resolution. Enditem