JERUSALEM – Zambian President Michael Sata was receiving medical treatment in Israel on Thursday, an Israeli official said without elaborating on his condition.
The disclosure came a day after Zambian Vice President Guy Scott told parliament in Lusaka that Sata, 76, was in Israel on a “working holiday”.
“(Sata) is here on a private visit and he is receiving medical treatment,” the Israeli official said. “He did not come to lie on a beach.”
Sata suffered a heart attack in 2008. Concerns about his health persisted and his opponents said he collapsed during a six-week election campaign in 2011 – an account he denied.
Before his victory that year, Sata had contested and lost presidential elections in 2001, 2006 and 2008.
Another Israeli official, who declined to comment on the nature of Sata’s visit, said the Zambian president would meet Israeli President Shimon Peres next week. Peres, whom the official said had invited Sata to Israel, was in Washington this week.
Susan J Chipeta
Abagwashe mulimu