Mugabe trip to Singapore raises more health questions

Harare, 03 Jul – (ANA) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe flew to Singapore yesterday for what a senior aide called a routine medical check-up, reviving speculation about the health of the 88-year-old leader who has denied reports he has cancer.

Zimbabwe's only leader since independence from Britain in 1980, Mugabe brought forward his weekly cabinet meeting yesterday before his departure, officials said.

"The president is going on a private visit for a routine medical check-up,- not because he is sick or anything like that, but one consistent with his strong belief in getting regular medical examinations in order to stay healthy," a senior official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters. Asked why the president was going abroad if it was a routine issue, the official said: "I am not going to be dragged into that kind of malicious debate." (ANA)

FA/ANA/03 July 2012-----------