Luanda – Diplomat José Agostinho Neto, brother of Angola's first president, died Saturday in Lisbon, Portugal, aged 85, due to illness.

In a note sent to ANGOP Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MIREX), which announced the misfortune, expressed "deep sadness and high compassion" and expresses its heartfelt condolences to the family.

In the document, signed by the Angolan top diplomat Teté António, recalls that “Tio Loló”, as he was affectionately known, was Angola's extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to the Republics of Congo, Tanzania and Botswana.

A diligent member of the ruling MPLA party, the ambassador was also a BPC - Banco de Poupança e Crédito (Savings and Credit Bank) member and non-executive director of the António Agostinho Neto Foundation (FAAA), where he looked after the legacy of his older brother.

"On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department, the entire diplomatic class and other officials, I express my condolence to bereaved family", Teté António’s message reads out.