by Ren Yaqiu
LIBREVILLE, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Gabon has denied the reported death of its President Omar Bongo Ondimba in an escalation of tensions with French media, which the former French colony has been charging for spreading false information for months.
French media said on Sunday that Bongo died in a hospital in Spain's northeastern city Barcelona, where the 73-year-old president has been receiving medical care since March.
Gabon's presidential office rebuffed the report on Monday, voicing a strong protest against the rumoring.
"Contrary to the information released by certain French media, the Presidency of the Republic of Gabon states that President of Republic Omar Bongo Ondimba is not dead," it said in an official communique.
"He continues his stay in Spain after his check-up at the Quiron clinic of Barcelona," it said, adding "the Presidency of the Republic demands the Gabonese people remain calm and vigilant."
Gabonese Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong left for Spain on Sunday night, while the Gabonese Foreign Ministry summoned the French ambassador in Gabon on Monday morning.
According to information reaching here from Spain, Eyeghe Ndongdenied the death of Bongo early Monday in Barcelona, expressing shock at the repeated false information from French media.
The premier said Gabon would lodge a protest with the French government over the misinformation.
Last month, Gabonese authorities rejected the entry of two French reporters working for France 24 television, amid the country's displeasure with French media over their leader's health condition.
The Gabonese government said President Bongo "suffered a strong shock of emotional intensity following the death of his spouse after a long illness."
Gabon's first lady, the daughter of the Republic of Congo's President Denis Sassou Nguesso, passed away on March 14 in Rabat, the capital of Morocco.
Gabonese Vice President Didjob Divungi Di Ndinge was put in charge of state affairs after Bongo stayed away from public appearance since March and left for Europe early in May, sparking a spate of media speculation, saying he was "seriously ill."
Gabon has been especially wary of French media since early this year.
The Gabonese government in March slammed the French media-led prejudice over the ruling by a Bordeaux court against President Bongo, warning of damage to the traditional ties between the two countries.
A court of appeal in the French southwest city of Bordeaux froze 4.2 million euro (5.29 million U.S. dollars) in two French bank accounts of the Gabonese president on Feb. 26, 12 years after a legal case involving a French businessman.
"This pernicious campaign ... of prejudice was illustrated in the French media," according to a statement by government spokesman Rene Ndemezo' Obiang.
"Gabon will no longer tolerate the damage to the dignity and honor of its president and all its people," the spokesman said, dismissing the campaign as destined for "destabilization of Gabon."
Bongo has been at the helm of the country for 42 years since he came to power in 1967, the longest serving president in Africa.
Gabon, a former French colony in the bight of Africa, forms part of the West Central Region of Africa. It has a population of 1.4 million and an area of 267,667 square km. Oil and timber are among the country's key industries.
