Guinea-Bissau leader Malam Bacai Sanha dies at 64

The President of Guinea-Bissau, Malam Bacai Sanha has passed on in a hospital in Paris, according to a BBC report January 9, 2012 citing a statement from his office which was read on national radio.

The statement from Mr Sanha’s office as cited by the report announced “with pain and sadness” that he died at the Val-de-Grace military hospital in Paris where he had been receiving treatment.

The Bristish broadcaster says the 64-year-old had travelled to France for medical treatment in late November after being taken seriously ill. The nature of the president’s illness has not been made public but he was thought to suffer from diabetes, the report added.

Mr Sanha was elected president in 2009 after years of unrest and coups.

By Pascal Kelvin Kudiabor