FRANCE/FILE: President of Guinea Bissau, Malam Bacai Sanha, dies in a Paris hospital where he was undergoing treatment

Record ID: 727115

  • Title: FRANCE/FILE: President of Guinea Bissau, Malam Bacai Sanha, dies in a Paris hospital where he was undergoing treatment
  • Date: 10th January 2012
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JANUARY 9, 2012) (REUTERS) LOGO OUTSIDE GUINEA BISSAU EMBASSY IN PARIS WOMAN ENTERING EMBASSY SIGN FOR EMBASSY EMBASSY WITH FLAG PHOTO OF GUINEA BISSAU'S PRESIDENT MALAM BACAI SANHA VARIOUS OF PHOTO OF GUINEA BISSAU'S PRESIDENT MALAM BACAI SANHA NEXT TO FLAG EXTERIOR OF THE VAL DE GRACE HOPSITAL IN PARIS, WHERE BACAI SAHNA DIED VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF H
  • Embargoed: 25th January 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France, Senegal
  • City:
  • Country: Senegal France
  • Topics: International Relations,Health
  • Reuters ID: LVAEZBI5VTXEVMIAUH2NWS4LC44R
  • Story Text: Guinea Bissau President Malam Bacai Sanha died on Monday (January 9) in a Paris hospital where he was undergoing treatment, according to the embassy in Paris.
    Sanha had been in poor health since coming to power in 2009 and left Bissau in late November for treatment abroad, raising worries about a possible military takeover in a West African state that has suffered repeated coups.
    The president's office said they reported his death "with pain and sadness".
    The United States embassy in Dakar had warned U.S. citizens in Guinea Bissau in December that there was an "increased potential for political instability and civil unrest" as a result of reports of Sanha's ill-health.
    Sanha, 65, who came to power in 2009 after his predecessor was assassinated, was believed to suffer from diabetes. A foreign ministry source told Reuters last week that Sanha was placed in an artificial coma during his treatment in Paris.
    Guinea Bissau, a tiny former Portuguese colony whose main export is cashew nuts, is trying to shore up its fragile stability after years of turmoil fuelled by the military's meddling in politics.
    International drug trafficking networks have taken advantage of weak government and corruption to turn the country into one of West Africa's transit points for Latin American cocaine headed to Europe.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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