CRY! CRY! MY CONTINENT CRY!!
Best regards,
Nyar'Onyango
************
GA
----- Original Message -----
From: Mulindwa Edward
To: Lisa Toro
Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2004 9:59 AM
Subject: JUST CAME IN
SABC has conffirmed that Mugabe is in SA.
Alert as sick Mugabe flies to South Africa
By Jane Flanagan in Johannesburg
Robert Mugabe was airlifted to South Africa for emergency medical treatment
yesterday after collapsing at his state residence in Harare, a member of his
security staff said last night.
The 79-year-old dictator was flown by military aircraft to Johannesburg
after a violent vomiting fit. He was accompanied on the flight by his wife
Grace, personal doctors and a string of aides.
His collapse followed a similar bout of illness three months ago, for which
he was also treated in South Africa. Last night, road blocks were set up
around Harare, manned by riot police and soldiers to dispel any mass
protests. Reinforcements from police, army and militia outside the capital
were drafted into Harare to shore up the regime.
"We were ordered not to give any details of the president's illness in case
it brought people out on to the streets," a senior member of the 'Green
Bombers', the notorious youth brigade created by Mr Mugabe, told The Sunday
Telegraph. Mr Mugabe is understood to have vomited repeatedly during Friday
night then collapsed as he attempted to get out of bed yesterday.
On arrival in Johannesburg, he was driven away in an entourage of cars
accompanied by bodyguards, according to a witness who saw him at the
airport. He is understood to have been driven to a clinic for treatment. He
was previously treated at a private hospital near Pretoria.
Mr Mugabe is taken outside Zimbabwe for treatment to reduce the threat of
news of his illness leaking out and prompting popular unrest. Reports of a
similar collapse late in October, when he was said to have suffered
uncontrollable vomiting, prompted uproar.
At the time, spokesmen for his regime denied that he was ill or had left the
country, insisting it was "business as usual". However, television pictures
purporting to show the president at an international cultural conference are
said by broadcasters to have been old footage.
A member of staff at Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation later revealed that
they were asked to find recent footage of Mr Mugabe and play it during the
national news bulletin to "calm public opinion".
In fact, the pictures used dated from his ruling Zanu-PF's annual party
congress meeting, at Victoria Falls, last August. Supporters of the regime
have sought to play down Mr Mugabe's medical problems, but rumours of
ill-health and strokes have dogged him in recent years. Mr Mugabe's latest
collapse and emergency hospitalisation will intensify jockeying within
Zanu-PF over his succession.
After 23 years in power, the president has appeared increasingly frail in
recent months while at the same time showing remarkable stamina. Last night,
a spokesman for the South African government said: "I have no information on
whether President Mugabe is in the country or not."
The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy"
Groupe de communication Mulindwas
"avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"
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