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Djiboutian President Ismael Omar Guelleh returned home to the Horn of Africa country, his office announced on Sunday after rumors that the 73-year-old was hospitalized in Paris.
Reelected to a fifth term in April, Guelleh has ruled Djibouti since 1999 and has used his country’s unique geographic position to attract investors and foreign military powers, while keeping a tight grip on power.
Hours after rumors began circulating on social media last Monday that Guelleh had flown to Paris and checked in at a hospital, Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf posted a series of tweets saying that the information was incorrect.
“All the information circulating on the networks is poison spread to disturb our fellow citizens,” Youssouf wrote.
Both the prime minister and the government spokesman said Guelleh was on a break due to “overwork”.
Sunday’s statement said Geulleh was back from a “private visit to France”, the former colonial power of Djibouti.
The president’s Twitter account posted images of Guelleh leaving his plane.
Guelleh took advantage of Djibouti’s unique geographic location on the Red Sea to develop the small arid nation of one million people into a reliable international military and maritime hub.
It houses military bases for world powers such as France, the United States, Japan and China.
The third smallest country on the African continent in terms of area, and sandwiched between unstable neighbors, Djibouti has embarked on an infrastructure blitz, seeking major investments in its quest to become the “Dubai of Africa” .
Map of Djibouti. By Tupac POINTU (AFP) Despite a plethora of projects, however, many Djiboutians still live in extreme poverty.
Guelleh’s government has also been accused by human rights groups of suppressing dissent, restricting free speech and suppressing opposition parties.
With an age limit prohibiting him from running a sixth time, Guelleh would have to anoint a successor within his own circle of trust, much the same as his own nomination.
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