Nigeria, Aug. 11 -- Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dan Etete, has questioned claims that former military Head of State, Sani Abacha, died during a sexual encounter, describing the account as unsupported by evidence.

Mr Etete, who served in the Abacha regime and said he was a close friend of the late military ruler, was reacting to claims by a former State Security Service (SSS) officer, Dennis Amachree, about Mr Abacha's final hours.

Mr Amachree made the claims in his memoir, DSS @40: My Journey Behind the Shield, excerpts of which were published in July.

He said Mr Abacha suffered a coitus-induced cardiac arrest at about 4:05 a.m. on 8 June 1998 at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

But Mr Etete, in a statement titled "Twenty-...