Namibia’s President Hage Geingob Dies in Hospital

President of Namibia Hage Geingob attends a plenary session of the World Economic Forum on Africa (WEF) titled Africa: Rising Continent in a Fractured World at the Cape Town International Convention Center, in Cape Town, South Africa, 05 September 2019 (reissued 04 February 2024). (EPA)
President of Namibia Hage Geingob attends a plenary session of the World Economic Forum on Africa (WEF) titled Africa: Rising Continent in a Fractured World at the Cape Town International Convention Center, in Cape Town, South Africa, 05 September 2019 (reissued 04 February 2024). (EPA)
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Namibia’s President Hage Geingob Dies in Hospital

President of Namibia Hage Geingob attends a plenary session of the World Economic Forum on Africa (WEF) titled Africa: Rising Continent in a Fractured World at the Cape Town International Convention Center, in Cape Town, South Africa, 05 September 2019 (reissued 04 February 2024). (EPA)
President of Namibia Hage Geingob attends a plenary session of the World Economic Forum on Africa (WEF) titled Africa: Rising Continent in a Fractured World at the Cape Town International Convention Center, in Cape Town, South Africa, 05 September 2019 (reissued 04 February 2024). (EPA)

Namibia's President Hage Geingob died early Sunday in a hospital in Windhoek, his office said. He was 82.

Geingob, who was serving his second term as president and was his country's first prime minister after independence, revealed last month that he was being treated for cancer.

Most recently, he took a stand by supporting South Africa's complaint against Israel under the Genocide Convention and by condemning Namibia's former colonial ruler Germany for rejecting the case.

"It is with utmost sadness and regret that I inform you that our beloved Dr. Hage G. Geingob, the President of the Republic of Namibia, has passed on today," read a statement signed by acting president Nangolo Mbumba.

"At his side, was his dear wife Madame Monica Geingos and his children."

A biopsy following a routine medical check-up in January had revealed "cancerous cells", Geingob's office said at the time.

President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa said: "Today, South Africa joins the people of our sister state Namibia in mourning the passing of a leader, patriot and friend of South Africa.

"President Geingob was a towering veteran of Namibia's liberation from colonialism and apartheid. He was also greatly influential in the solidarity that the people of Namibia extended to the people of South Africa so that we could be free today."

President William Ruto of Kenya echoed this praise.

"He was a believer of a unified Africa and strongly promoted the continent's voice and visibility at the global arena," he said.

First elected president in 2014, Geingob was Namibia's longest-serving prime minister and third president.

In 2013, Geingob underwent brain surgery, and last year he had an aortic operation in neighboring South Africa.

Up until his death, he had been receiving treatment at Lady Pohamba Hospital in Windhoek.

"The Namibian nation has lost a distinguished servant of the people, a liberation struggle icon, the chief architect of our constitution and the pillar of the Namibian house," said Mbumba.

"At this moment of deepest sorrow, I appeal to the nation to remain calm and collected while the government attends to all necessary state arrangements, preparations and other protocols."

He said the cabinet would convene immediately to make the necessary state arrangements.

Independence struggle

Born in a village in northern Namibia in 1941, Geingob was the southern African country's first president outside of the Ovambo ethnic group, which makes up more than half the country's population.

In his early years he took up activism against South Africa's apartheid regime, which at the time ruled over Namibia, and in 1964 he was appointed representative for the SWAPO liberation movement at the United Nations.

He spent almost three decades in Botswana and the United States, returning to Namibia in 1989 to lead SWAPO's election campaign in his now independent homeland.

Namibia is to hold presidential and national assembly elections towards the end of the year.



Iran Proposes Meeting with Europeans Before Next Talks with US, Diplomats Say 

The flags of the US and Iran hang on the road leading to the Muscat International Book fair on April 25, 2025. (AFP)
The flags of the US and Iran hang on the road leading to the Muscat International Book fair on April 25, 2025. (AFP)
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Iran Proposes Meeting with Europeans Before Next Talks with US, Diplomats Say 

The flags of the US and Iran hang on the road leading to the Muscat International Book fair on April 25, 2025. (AFP)
The flags of the US and Iran hang on the road leading to the Muscat International Book fair on April 25, 2025. (AFP)

Iran has proposed meeting the European parties to a 2015 nuclear deal possibly in Rome this Friday if talks resume with the United States, four diplomats said on Monday, cautioning that there has yet to be a response from the Europeans to the idea.

Iran is looking to build on the momentum of nuclear negotiations with the United States that resumed in Oman on Saturday and after talks with Russia and China last week.

Omani officials have said a new round of US-Iran talks could be held on May 3 in Europe. No formal decision has been taken.

Iran's reach out to Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, suggests Tehran is keeping its options open, but also wants to assess where the Europeans stand on the possible re-imposition of UN sanctions before October, when a resolution ratifying the 2015 accord expires.

Two E3 diplomats and a Western diplomat said Iran had communicated after last Saturday's talks with the United States a proposal to meet possibly in Rome on Friday.

Should that not be possible, the Iranians also suggested discussions in Tehran before that date, the diplomats said.

The second round of negotiations between Washington and Tehran took place in Rome with Iran saying serious differences remained.

An Iranian official confirmed the proposal, but said the E3 had not responded so far.

The European and Western diplomats said the E3 were assessing whether it was in their interest to meet Iran now or wait to see how talks with Washington developed, but ruled out a meeting in Tehran.

"It is important to remain on the same page with all parties to the 2015 deal. Therefore, meeting the E3 countries this week ahead of the next round of talks with Americans would be useful," said the Iranian official.

UN SANCTIONS DEADLINE

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday he was ready to travel to Europe for talks, although he suggested that the ball was in Europe's court after ties had soured between the two sides.

Since September, Tehran and the three European powers have met several times to discuss their ties and the nuclear issue.

The most recent meeting in March was held at the technical level, looking at the parameters of a future deal to secure a rollback of Iran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions.

Trump, who abandoned the 2015 pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

The West suspects Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, which it denies. The threat of renewed sanctions is intended to pressure Tehran into concessions, making detailed discussions on strategy between the Americans and Europeans vital, diplomats say.

Because the United States quit the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, it cannot initiate its mechanism for reimposing sanctions, called snapback, at the United Nations Security Council.

That makes the E3 the only participants in the deal who are capable of and interested in pursuing snapback.

When asked whether the proposal to meet Europeans was about snapback, the Iranian official indicated that was partly the aim.

"Talks with the US, particularly on the nuclear steps, are not moving fast and obviously we need more time and Tehran is not much in favor of an interim deal, because of lack of trust to American side," the official said.

"What if under an interim deal, we fulfil our step and the other party does not. We need Europeans to understand that we want a new deal and we are ready to take steps to limit our enrichment but we need time."

The British and German foreign ministries declined to comment specifically on whether Iran had proposed a meeting for later this week. France's foreign ministry did not immediately respond for comment.