 Zambia denies president is dead
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-04 07:42 Zambia's vice-president denied yesterday media reports that President Levy Mwanawasa had died, saying he was in a stable condition in a Paris hospital. "The president had (a) satisfactory night at the Percy military hospital in France. The news reports ... are not true," Vice-President Rupiah Banda said in a statement. Earlier yesterday, South Africa's Talk Radio 702 reported that Mwanawasa had died, quoting a Zambian High Commission spokesman. Mwanawasa, 59, an outspoken critic of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, was rushed to hospital on Sunday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after suffering a stroke just before an African Union summit.
He was later transferred to Paris for treatment. A French official involved in diplomacy said on Wednesday Mwanawasa was receiving medical care at Val-de-Grace military hospital in Paris, a frequent destination for French and foreign dignitaries. Banda said Mwanawasa was being treated for hypertension. "The doctors attending to (Mwanawasa) are happy with progress he has made so far and his condition remains stable. He has continued to receive treatment for hypertension in the intensive care unit and there are no new developments," Banda said. On Wednesday, the head of the Egyptian hospital that treated Mwanawasa, Saeed Abdel Fattah Essa, said the president was in a semi-coma but "still alive" when evacuated to Paris from Egypt. A semi-coma is a mild or partial comatose state. The Zambian president had a brain hemorrhage which Egyptian doctors managed to stop, Essa said. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak visited Mwanawasa at the hospital before he was flown to France, Essa said. Mwanawasa chairs the Southern African Development Community, which has been mediating between President Robert Mugabe and the opposition to try to end a political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe. The Zambian leader is a favorite of the International Monetary Fund and other Western donors, who extended billions of dollars in debt relief after he cracked down on government spending and launched an anti-graft drive. Agencies (China Daily 07/04/2008 page12) |
