KEY POINTS:
The South African President had the unusual duty yesterday of mourning the death of the President of Zambia with a minute's silence, then hours later wising him a speedy recovery.
President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa would have been an embarrassing corpse. The Zambian leader, who chairs a
bloc of southern African nations, collapsed with a stroke on Sunday and was rushed to hospital in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh just as he prepared to confront Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe at an African summit.
Mr Mugabe's most vocal opponent on the continent was transferred to a Paris military hospital for further treatment after reportedly suffering a brain haemorrhage. Egyptian doctors said he was in a "semi-coma".
Yesterday morning, a South African radio station reported that the 59-year-old Zambian President had died in Paris, setting radio and television stations buzzing around the world. One Johannesburg newspaper ran the front page headline, "Stroke kills Zambian president".
There was talk of a state funeral being organised within five days. Zambian senior cabinet ministers were reported to be closeted in urgent meetings with army chiefs. Then the South African President, Thabo Mbeki, announced that he had been informed by the executive secretary of the Southern African Development Community that Mr Mwanawasa had passed away. He interrupted a remembrance ceremony held to honour Zimbabwean migrants killed by racist attacks in South Africa to hold a minute's silence.
South Africa's main opposition party sent condolences. But about an hour later, the Zambian Vice-President, Rupiah Banda, already being tipped as the President's successor in the South African media, said rumours of the President's death were greatly exaggerated. "The President had [a] satisfactory night at the Percy military hospital in France. The news reports ... are not true.
"The information minister, Mike Mulongoti, his voice shaking with emotion, went on Zambian radio to announce: "We spoke with the people at Mwanawasa's bedside a few minutes ago, including his wife, Maureen, who said [he] was still alive and breathing." Mr Banda said the President was in a "stable" condition in intensive care receiving treatment for hypertension. "The doctors attending are happy with progress he has made so far and his condition remains stable," Mr Banda added.
Mr Mulongoti, the government spokesman, urged the South African media, which had been the source of the global false alarm, to exercise restraint, and condemned the "false and malicious rumours". He added: "The stories are coming from South Africa and have now spread to the rest of the world. I am appealing to the South African press to restrain themselves as they are causing anguish and pain to the Zambian people.
"Mr Mbeki's office retracted his earlier statement and "regretted the "misunderstanding". The Foreign Ministry said: "On behalf of the government and on his own behalf, [Mr Mbeki] wishes President Mwanawasa a speedy recovery."
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