Bujumbura - Burundi's interior minister and former rebel official Simon Nyandwi has died of a heart attack overnight, his colleague said on Tuesday.
"Simon Nyandwi had a heart attack and was rushed to hospital in the afternoon (Monday). He died at night of heart related complications," Public Works Minister Salvator Ntahomenyereye said.
The 55-year-old minister, who was also suffering from diabetes, was a member of the former rebel movement National Council for the Defence of Democracy - Forces for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD-FDD).
Nyandwi joined the government in December 2003 after the signing of a peace deal between the government and CNDD-FDD in Tanzania.
The tiny central African nation is still emerging from a devastating 11-year-old civil war that has claimed at least 300 000 lives. - Sapa-AFP