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lennart
28-10-03, 22:52
Mystery surrounds Mugabe's collapse
By Tim Butcher in Johannesburg
October 29, 2003

President Robert Mugabe collapsed on Monday and was flown to South Africa for emergency medical treatment, sources in Zimbabwe said on Monday.

There was speculation on South African radio that he had suffered either a stroke or was injured in a bad fall. The private radio station that initially reported Mr Mugabe's health scare later ran an interview with a Zimbabwe ruling party official who expressed the view that even if he were ill, there would be no need for him to travel to South Africa for treatment.

Supporters of Mr Mugabe, 79, were setting up barricades in the capital, Harare, manned by well-armed riot police.

It was reported that senior members of the "Green Bombers", the notorious youth brigades created by Mr Mugabe and responsible for rape, murder and political thuggery, were being flown to the city.

Any transition of power in Zimbabwe would probably be violent, as Mr Mugabe's successors in the ruling Zanu-PF party would clash with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Sources in Zimbabwe said Mr Mugabe was taken ill late on Sunday and vomited throughout the night, then collapsed on Monday. He was flown by military aircraft to the Waterkloof air base, a South African military airport near Pretoria, and driven to a clinic for treatment, they said.

If he had been treated in Zimbabwe, news would have leaked out quickly, prompting popular unrest. By moving him to South Africa the situation can be better managed by his supporters until the extent of his health problems can be assessed.

Foreign affairs officials in Johannesburg on Monday could not confirm the report that Mr Mugabe was ill and undergoing treatment in South Africa.

"At this stage we have no knowledge of this development," a foreign affairs official, Ronnie Mamoepa, said.

Mr Mugabe's illness is expected to intensify jockeying in the Zanu-PF for the succession. The death last month of Vice-President Simon Muzenda, 81, a staunch Mugabe supporter, has already sparked attempts by various factions in the party to secure the vice-presidency.

Regime supporters played down the seriousness of Mr Mugabe's medical problems, saying he would be in Harare yesterday for photographs with the state-run media.

Rumours of ill health, strokes and death have been part of Mr Mugabe's regime in recent years. After 23 years in power, he has appeared increasingly frail in recent months, although he has also shown remarkable stamina.

The presidential election last year was so flawed that the US described the regime as "democratically illegitimate" and Zimbabwe had been suspended from the Commonwealth.

Targeted sanctions have been imposed on Mr Mugabe and his inner circle by the European Union and America.

On Monday, Zimbabwe police charged the publisher and three other directors of the Daily News, an independent newspaper critical of Mugabe's government, with publishing without a licence, said its legal adviser.

The Daily News returned to the newsstands at the weekend, six weeks after it was shut down by the authorities, after a court order for it to be given a licence by the end of next month.

But police later closed the paper's offices and briefly detained 18 staff.

The Telegraph, London; Reuters
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/28/1067233176081.html

Maslov
28-10-03, 23:21
President Robert Mugabe collapsed on Monday and was flown to South Africa for emergency medical treatment

Die weg heeft hij goed voor zichzelf verzorgd.

Ben bang dat met zijn verdwijnen het in dat land ook eerst weer op strijd zal neerkomen.