Afghanistan's First Vice President Dies

An Afghan government spokesman says one of the country's two vice presidents, Field Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim, has died at the age of 57.

The official said Fahim died of natural causes on Sunday. He added that three days of national mourning would be held.

Fahim was once a powerful warlord and had been a leading commander in the Northern Alliance, which fought the Taliban.

Pakistani Religious Scholar Dies

Prominent Pakistani religious scholar Qazi Hussain Ahmed has died at the age of 74.

He was the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan's leading religious group, for 22 years before stepping down in 2009.

In November, Ahmed escaped unhurt from an assassination attempt when a suicide bomber detonated explosives near him.

He was a strong critic of the U.S.-NATO participation in the civil war in neighboring Afghanistan.

Ahmed died Sunday morning in Islamabad. He had suffered from heart disease for years.

Ghanaian President John Atta Mills Dies at 68

Ghanaian President John Atta Mills, who died Tuesday, oversaw a generally peaceful and prosperous time for his country during his one term in office.

Mr. Mills became the country's third democratically-elected president in 2009 after defeating ruling party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in a run-off election.

In July 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama visited Ghana and proclaimed the country a model for other African countries.

Eighteen months later, Mr. Mills turned the valves at a ceremony marking Ghana's new status as an oil-producing nation. The oil fueled economic growth of more than 16 percent in 2011, though analysts warned that oil production could have harmful effects, as it has in other African countries.

Mr. Mills was born July 21, 1944 in Ekumfi Otuam in Ghana's Central Region.

Before his political career, he was an accomplished scholar receiving both a bachelors and law degree from the University of Ghana, a doctorate from the University of London, and the prestigious Fulbright scholarship to Stanford University in the United States.

Mr. Mills served as Ghana's vice president during the administration of Jerry Rawlings from 1997 to 2000.

He had been nominated by the ruling party to run for president again in an election expected later this year.

The president leaves behind a wife and a son.

President of Guinea-Bissau Dies in France

Nick Loomis
Dakar, Senegal

Malam Bacai Sanha, the president of Guinea-Bissau, died Monday in a Paris hospital. The West African nation has a long history of internal conflict and now faces a troubling power vacuum just two weeks after a suspected coup attempt.

Guinea-Bissau's national radio announced that President Sanha had died in a Paris from a protracted and undisclosed illness, though it is thought to be related to diabetes. The 64-year-old was was ill for much of his term and spent much of it on hospital visits to Europe and neighboring Senegal.

Since achieving independence from Portugal in 1974, the country has been plagued by corruption, coups and assassinations. Sanha was voted into power in 2009 after his predecessor, Joao Bernardo Vieira, was assassinated. His death comes only two weeks after a suspected coup attempt for which more than 100 military personnel, including high-ranking officials, have been arrested. 

Alex Vines is a researcher with Chatham House, an policy institute for international affairs. He said the suspected coup attempt illustrates the fragility of the country and its government.

“The country remains one of the more unstable in sub-Saharan Africa and the death of the president hasn't helped this at all. Although he's been ill, it just adds more uncertainty to an already-unpredictable, uncertain country,” said Vines.

Vines said there probably will be no further coup attempts in the short term. Instead, he expects political posturing on the part of hopeful successors looking to grab power legitimately and peacefully. But in a place like Guinea-Bissau, a peaceful transition of power is rare and, according to Vines, was one of Sanha's greatest achievements.

“It's a shame that President Sanha's health was what it was. It think Sanha's winning the presidential election and the peacefulness that followed it was important. We'll have to see now if a successor can continue that legacy,” said Vines.

The head of the National Assembly, Raimundo Pereira, is expected to take control of the interim government until new elections can be organized - which the constitution says should take place within 90 days.