Ethiopian
leader Meles Zenawi 'in hospital'
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Updated 1 hrs 20 mins
ago
BY AFP REPORTER
Ethiopia's government
has denied Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is critically ill but says he has been
in hospital.
"He is not in a
critical state. He is in good condition," spokesman Bereket Simon told the
AFP news agency.
A spokesperson for the Ethiopian embassy in
London told the BBC the 57 year old was in a stable condition after hospital
treatment.
Speculation about his health began when he missed last weekend's
African Union summit in Addis Ababa. There were reports that Mr Meles was in
hospital in Belgium, suffering from a stomach complaint. The Ethiopian embassy
spokesperson in London said the prime minister had been visited by high-level
officials, but did not say where he was being treated.
Diplomatic sources in Brussels told AFP that the Ethiopian leader
was in a hospital in the Belgian capital.
"He is in a critical state, his life is in danger," the
agency was told by a diplomat who asked not to be named.
An Ethiopian government press conference about the rumours
scheduled for Wednesday morning has been postponed until later this week.
Correspondents say it is believed Mr Meles's last public appearance was at the
G20 talks in Mexico last month. Mr
Meles took power as the leader of a rebel movement which ousted
the communist government of Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991. He has won several
elections since then, but his political opponents have accused him of using
repression to retain power.
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