Sarkozy Jeered At Bongo's Funeral

Prez Nicolas Sarzoky French President Nicolas Sarkozy was jeered as he joined heads of state in the capital of Gabon, Libreville, for the funeral of President Omar Bongo.

A crowd booed the French leader as he visited the presidential palace to lay a wreath at Mr Bongo's coffin.

Oil-rich Gabon kept close ties to Paris under Mr Bongo, but he was the subject of a French corruption inquiry in May.

After more than four decades in office, he died last week in a Spanish clinic following a long illness.

Africa's longest-serving leader, he will be buried in Franceville, his hometown in the south-east on Thursday.

'No to France'
As Mr Sarkozy emerged from a stretch limousine outside the presidential palace in the ocean-side capital, cheers turned to jeers.

Joining him, the French president's predecessor, Jacques Chirac, was also booed, according to AP news agency.

Dozens of onlookers yelled: "We don't want you - leave" and "No to France".

But the two men were reportedly applauded inside the palace as they laid wreaths at the foot of Mr Bongo's coffin, which was draped in Gabon's national flag.

The former colonial power has close economic and political links to Gabon, with around 1,000 troops stationed in Libreville, where French energy firm Total is an investor.

In his last months, Mr Bongo's relations with Paris were soured by a French investigation into allegations of embezzlement.

Two other African leaders who are the focus of the same inquiry, Denis Sassou-Nguesso of the Republic of Congo and Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, were due to attend Tuesday's funeral in Libreville.

Gabonese reporter Linel Kwatsi, in the capital, told the BBC there had been anger among Mr Bongo's supporters in Gabon at the time over the Paris corruption inquiry and French media coverage.

'Our light'
The presidents of Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Senegal, Sao Tome and Togo were also on the guest list.

Foreign dignitaries passed in front of Mr Bongo's coffin at the presidential palace, where it was taken last Thursday to lie in state.

BBC