☰

Empresas y finanzas

Zambian president has high blood pressure


    LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa who was rushed to hospital in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, ahead of an African Union summit is being treated for high blood pressure, a Zambian government spokesman said on Monday.

    Mwanawasa, 59, was admitted on Sunday after experiencingsharp chest pains, Saeed Eissa, ambulance director for thesouthern Sinai peninsula, said.

    "He is still is hospital for treatment. It's high bloodpressure," Mike Mulongoti, Zambia's chief government spokesmantold Reuters on Monday.

    The African summit, which opened on Monday, is expected tofocus largely on the post-election crisis in Zimbabwe.

    President Robert Mugabe was sworn in Zimbabwe on Sunday fora new term after a one-candidate election on Friday whichobservers said was scarred by violence and intimidation.

    Mwanawasa, current chairman of the Southern AfricanDevelopment Community, has been one of the more vocal criticsof the veteran Zimbabwean leader and had expressedunderstanding for opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai when hepulled out of the presidential poll last week.

    (Reporting by Shapi Shacinda; Editing by Richard Balmforth)