----- Original Message ----- 
From: uga479 
To: UPC UPC 
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2004 8:33 PM
Subject: ***M7 PLANTED ON MBEKI & MUGABE AS WITH NYERERE??

Nyar'Onyango

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Mbeki Back at Work After Breathing Problems Checked
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki was rushed to hospital on Sunday after experiencing breathing problems at a rally of his ANC party, but was released after an hour, his spo... (photo: WN) Reuters

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      Mbeki Back at Work After Breathing Problems Checked 
      Mon January 12, 2004 02:46 AM ET 

      JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki was rushed to hospital on Sunday after experiencing breathing problems at a rally of his ANC party, but was released after an hour, his spokesman said on Monday. 
      "He is resuming his schedule today," spokesman Bheki Khumalo told Reuters. 

      He said Mbeki flew back to Johannesburg from a rally in Pietermaritzburg, near Durban, later on Sunday and was further examined by his doctor. 

      "The doctor determined that he had an allergy to what he had eaten," Khumalo said. 

      Surgeon General Rinus Jansen Van Rensburg of the South African National Defense Force, the country's top military doctor, described Mbeki's ailment as minor and said there was no cause for concern. 

      "He's doing very well. There is absolutely no problem," he told Reuters. "We are looking into the details at this moment...it could be anything. It could even have been a spice, but I wouldn't want to speculate on that." 

      The rally officially launched the ANC's campaign for South Africa's national elections likely to be held in March or April, with Mbeki seeking a second five-year mandate. 

      Mbeki, 61, keeps a punishing schedule, according to his aides. 

      Khumalo said the president would go ahead with a planned meeting later on Monday with senior officials of the ruling African National Congress, and would also begin a planned state visit on Tuesday to the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

      Mbeki paused twice for a sip of water during his 45-minute speech to a mammoth crowd of ANC supporters gathered in searing heat in an open field. 

      Khumalo said Mbeki was first examined by military doctors accompanying who decided he should be taken to a Pietermaritzburg hospital. 

      Mbeki was first voted to power in 1999, succeeding former president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela. 
     
      © Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.  

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