Equatorial Guinea president's brother dies

*Equatorial Guinea’s Minister of Presidential Security and half-brother of the Head of State, Antonio Mba Nguema, died, Monday in South Africa after a long illness, Equatorial Guinea’s presidency announced on Tuesday.

“In the morning, on May 6, the Captain General of the Armed Forces and Minister of State for Presidential Security, Antonio Mba Nguema Mikué, died in a hospital in South Africa,” the president said in a statement read on state radio.

Family sources told AFP, that Antonio Mba Nguema, half brother of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled the country since 1979, died at the age of 68.

He was Director of National Security (1992-2004) for a long time before being appointed Minister of National Defence, a position he held until 2016. He held the highest rank in the country’s army.

The Ministry of Defence has decreed seven days of mourning in “all barracks, ships, military dependencies of the armed and security forces” of the country, according to an order consulted by
AFP.

AFP