DJIBOUTI - Former Djibouti president Hassan Gouled Aptidon, the country's first ruler after independence from France in 1977, has died at his home after a long illness, a member of his family said Wednesday.
Approximately 90 years old, Gouled was buried within hours of his death Tuesday before a large crowd, in keeping with Muslim tradition.
President Ismail Omar Guelleh declared three days of national mourning.
Tributes from abroad were led by Meles Zenawi, prime minister of neighbouring Ethiopia.
"We would like to pay tribute to the remarkable career of this seasoned statesman who not only led the independence struggle of Djibouti but also set the country on the right track of peace, democracy and development," wrote Zenawi in a letter of condolence.
"We have always regarded the late Mr. Hassan Gouled as a true friend of Ethiopia," he added.
Gouled stepped down after ruling Djibouti for 22 years and paving the way for Guelleh -- then his chief of staff -- to succeed him as president.
Guelleh was elected in the country's first multi-party elections in 1999, and reelected to a second term last year.
Located at the southern end of the Red Sea on the Gulf of Aden, Djibouti is a key staging post between the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal shipping route through to the Indian Ocean.
It is also home to the largest overseas French military base and the only US military base in Africa.
When he entered politics in 1947, Gouled wanted Djibouti to remain part of France, and after his political party was banned in 1967 he began a peaceful campaign for independence, eventually achieving his aim in June 1977.
The latter years of Gouled's unbroken 22-year rule were rocked by sporadic violence, as government forces clashed with the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD). The FRUD, a rebel movement composed of Afars, the country's second ethnic group after Gouled's own Issa tribe, launched a rebellion in 1991.
The following year, Gouled oversaw the introduction of a constitution which instituted multi-party politics in the country. He was re-elected for a further six-year term in 1993, before passing power to Guelleh in 1999.
CIA black sites may amount to crime against humanity