By Marco Trujillo
BARCELONA (Reuters) - Gabon's President Omar Bongo is alive and well in a hospital in Spain, Gabonese Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong said on Monday, after French media reported the veteran African leader had died.
"He is alive and well. The family has been visiting him this morning," Ndong told a news conference at the Quiron hospital in Barcelona.
Reports that Bongo was ill had raised questions over the future leadership of the country, which has maintained a tight relationship with former colonial ruler, France, and has a well-established oil industry.
French media on Sunday said Bongo had died after 41 years in power in the central African country. But Gabon's government said on Monday that it would officially complain to France over the press reports.
"I have made a statement not only to reassure the Gabonese people but to condemn this tendency in the French press, which only wants to sow doubt in the spirit of the Gabonese for undesirable ends," Ndong said.
Concerns over the health of Africa's longest-serving ruler grew last month after he suspended his functions as head of the oil-producing state for the first time since taking power in 1967.
The 73-year-old checked into the clinic in Barcelona in May, officially to rest after the sudden death of his wife. But reports that he was suffering from cancer fuelled speculation over who would lead the country if Bongo died.
Although there have been some concerns about stability, analysts say that even if Bongo dies the ruling party is likely to tightly manage the transition and that Bongo's successes in easing ethnic tensions will reduce the risk of turmoil.
(Additional reporting by Vanessa Romeo; Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Nick Tattersall)
