WORLD BRIEFING / GABON

Gabonese Senate leader Rose Francine Rogombe was sworn in as interim president, the first step in the process of replacing Omar Bongo, Africa’s longest-serving head of state, who died this week.

Bongo’s death left a power vacuum in the central African nation, which he tightly controlled for more than four decades.

“I swear to devote all my efforts to looking after the Gabonese people . . . to respect and defend the constitution and the rule of law and to conscientiously carry out my job by being fair to all,” Rogombe said, one hand on the constitution.

Rogombe, 66, was educated in France and became Gabon’s first female judge before she was elected to the Senate this year. She was a key Bongo ally in the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party and has served as secretary of state.