Nigeria — A US Embassy cable released by the WikiLeaks website said Nigeria's new president claimed the oil-rich nation's previous president was "in a semi-comatose state" before his death.The cable, released Wednesday night, recounted a conversation between then-US Ambassador Robin Renee Sanders and then-Nigerian Vice President Goodluck Jonathan. The cable claimed Jonathan told the ambassador President Umaru Yar'Adua was semi-comatose "without an understanding of what (was) going on around him."Yar'Adua left Nigeria in November 2009, sparking a constitutional crisis. Jonathan reluctantly took power in February after the National Assembly took an extraconstitutional vote making him acting president.Yar'Adua died May 5. Jonathan was sworn in the following day.
(photo credit: The Jerusalem Post)