Zambia denies President Mwanawasa is dead

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Zambia denies President Mwanawasa is dead

1 hour, 32 minutes ago

By Shapi Shacinda

LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambia's vice president denied on Thursday 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 on Thursday, South Africa's Talk Radio 702 reported that

Mwanawasa had died, quoting a Zambian High Commission spokesman.

South African President Thabo Mbeki told reporters he had been

informed by the executive secretary of the Southern African

Development Community (SADC) that Mwanawasa had died.

Mbeki called for a minute's silence while attending a remembrance

ceremony in Pretoria for victims of a recent wave of xenophobic

attacks in South Africa.

" The executive secretary of SADC called me to say the president of

Zambia, Levy Mwanawasa, had passed away this morning, " he said.

Mwanawasa, 59, an outspoken critic of Zimbabwean President

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.

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.

Mwanawasa chairs SADC, which has been mediating between President

Mugabe and the opposition to try to end a political and

economic crisis in Zimbabwe.

His illness sidelined one of Mugabe's chief regional critics during

an African Union summit at which the veteran Zimbabwean leader

suffered unprecedented condemnation from some of his peers, including

another neighbor, Botswana.

Zimbabwe's neighbors have been flooded with refugees after the once

prosperous nation suffered economic collapse.

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.

He suffered a mild stroke in 2006 but said before being re-elected

that year that he was fit to stand for office.

(Additional reporting by Marius Bosch in Johannesburg, Siamo in

Pretoria; Editing by Barry Moody and xx)