Meles Zenawi, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia is dead. Zenawi who took over after the ouster of Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991 had battled an undisclosed illness for several weeks. He was conspicuously absent at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa in July. After that, there had were reports that he was on admission in a Belgian Hospital.
Zenawi’s death was announced on Ethiopian State TV where it was made known that he died in a hospital abroad around 23:40 hrs on Monday. It was disclosed that though the Prime Minister’s health had improved, he suddenly developed an infection on Sunday and he had to be taken back to hospital.
Mr. Zenawi had not been seen publicly for about 8 weeks before his death.He becomes the third African leader to die in 2012 following Malawi’s Bingu wa Mutharika and Ghana’s John Atta Mills.
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