Gabon's foreign minister dies of heart attack

FILE PHOTO: Gabonese Foreign Minister Michael Moussa Adamo poses for a picture during a Reuters interview at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, Rwanda June 24, 2022. REUTERS/Ayenat Mersie/File Photo

LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Gabon's Foreign Minister Michael Moussa Adamo died on Friday of a heart attack, President Ali Bongo said in a statement.

Three government sources said that he was in a council of ministers meeting when he suffered the cardiac attack. He was rushed to the hospital and died shortly after midday despite specialist treatment, said a government statement.

"He was a very great diplomat, a true statesman. For me, he was first of all a friend, loyal and faithful, whom I could always count on," said Bongo on Twitter.

(Reporting by Gerauds Wilfried Obangome; Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Frances Kerry)