Email 
Print 
ZAMBIA: Reports of the President's death "erroneous"
Source: IRIN
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
LUSAKA, 3 July 2008 (IRIN) - Zambia's information minister told local journalists at a press briefing on 3
July that President Levy Mwanawasa was alive, countering media reports saying he had died in a Paris hospital, and described South African President Thabo Mbeki's minute of silence in respect of his
counterpart at a rally in Pretoria as "erroneous". The South African radio station, Radio 702, first reported that Mwanawasa had died, after he had suffered a stroke on the eve of the African Union
summit in Egypt on 29 June and had been taken to the French capital on 2 July for further treatment. A frenzy of media reports followed, after government sources confirmed his death, and Mbeki asked
people gathered at a rally to mourn the scores of foreign nationals killed in xenophobic attacks, to pay their respects for the passing of Mwanawasa, who is also the current chairman of the 14-member
Southern African Development Community (SADC) of regional states. "The executive secretary of SADC called me to say the president of Zambia, Levy Mwanawasa, had passed away this morning," Mbeki said
in Pretoria, according to local reports. This was later corrected by a Foreign Affairs statement: "The South African government has been informed that President Mwanawasa has not passed on." At a
briefing called by the Zambian government, Mike Mulongoti, the information and broadcasting services minister, reiterated an earlier statement made on Zambian national television. "As government, we
are happy with the progress made so far on the health of Dr Levy Patrick Mwanawasa ... President of the Republic of Zambia. He is still in hospital and his condition is stable. He has continued
receiving treatment for hypertension from the Intensive Care Unit of Percy Military Hospital, and there are no new developments. He had a satisfactory night at Percy Military Hospital in Paris,
France." According to the current constitution, which is under review, should a president die in office, elections should be held within 90 days. nm/go/he/oa © IRIN. All rights reserved.
More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.IRINnews.org
