Pakistan president Zardari in Dubai for treatment as coup rumours intensify

[Turborama]

Source: The Guardian

Saeed Shah in Islamabad | Wednesday December 7 2011 11.23 GMT

Pakistan's embattled president, Asif Zardari, has been hospitalised in Dubai with a heart condition, triggering speculation that it could be used as an excuse for him to step down amid growing pressure from the military.

A government adviser said Zardari had suffered a "minor heart attack", but this was at odds with the official spokesman for the president, who said the president had gone for routine tests for a pre-existing heart condition.

Rumours of a coup or a resignation forced by the military consumed the media and the internet, fuelled by an American media report that said Zardari was "incoherent" on Monday night during a telephone conversation with Barack Obama.

Zardari's son and political heir-apparent, Bilawal, met prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in Islamabad, adding to media hysteria about imminent change. Bilawal is chairman of the ruling Pakistan Peoples party.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/07/pakistan-president-zadari-dubai-coup

[FarCenter]

1. Pakistan's president in hospital in Dubai

"The president went to Dubai following symptoms related to his pre-existing heart condition," Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani's media office said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The president will remain under observation and return to resume his normal functions as advised by the doctors."

The 56-year-old head of state flew to the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday after falling ill in the midst of a major scandal over alleged attempts by a close aide to seek US help to limit the power of Pakistan's military.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2011/12/2011127112615839434.html


The statement from the prime minister’s office said Zardari went to a Dubai hospital at the insistence of his children, who live there. It contradicted earlier reports from Zardari’s own office that the tests were scheduled and routine.

“The president went to Dubai following symptoms related to his pre-existing heart condition,” Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s media office said.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/12/07/zardari-had-minor-heart-attack-khokhar.html

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Zardari lived in Dubai for a while. Other than being the husband of now-deceased former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, his qualifications are not at all obvious. Possibly he has good relations with MI-6 and the CIA.