Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Reported to be In Critical Condition

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi offers compromise at Copenhagen conference. He is asking for less money than Africa initially suggested. He is flanked by the Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Ethiopian PM in 'critical' condition in Brussels, diplomatic sources say

Wed Jul 18, 2012 9:27PM GMT

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who has held power in the populous African country for over two decades, is in critical condition in a hospital in Brussels, diplomatic sources say.

The 57-year-old leader was in a life-threatening condition, a diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity on Wednesday.

Meles “is in a critical state, his life is in danger," added the diplomat.

Another diplomat said, "He is in a critical state but is alive."

However, the Ethiopian government denied reports about Meles’ health, saying that he was not suffering from any serious malady.

"He is not in a critical state. He is in good condition," government spokesman Bereket Simon said in Addis Ababa.

The Ethiopian embassy in Brussels, Belgium, refused to comment over the prime minister’s health.

Meles didn’t attend the African Union (AU) summit, which closed late on Monday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

At the opening of the summit on Saturday, Benin's president and current AU chairman, Thomas Boni Yayi, said that the "unusual absence… cannot go unnoticed, because we know that Mr. Meles is full of dynamism and leadership in our meetings.”

The Ethiopian prime minister was also scheduled to chair a meeting of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development on July 14, but was absent due to “health reasons.”

A Texas-based opposition group, the Ethiopian National Transitional Council, claimed in an e-mailed statement on Sunday that Meles may have died in a Belgian hospital.

However, the Ethiopian Embassy in Brussels quickly denied reports that he was hospitalized there or that he was seriously ill.

Meanwhile, Meles’ wife declined to talk to journalists about her husband’s health.

Meles, who is the head of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, has been the ruler of the African nation since 1991.