Some three dozen African heads of state and government gathered in Addis Ababa
on Sunday, but Mr Meles did not attend the meeting for the first time since
he assumed office in 1991.
He had been expected to open the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)
meeting on Saturday. Instead, Macky Sall, the Senegalese President opened
the gathering, telling participants that the prime minister was unable to
attend due “to health conditions”.
Thomas Boni Yayi, Benin’s president and current AU chairman, said the “unusual
absence… cannot go unnoticed”.
“We know that Mr Meles is full of dynamism and leadership in our meetings,”
he added.
Mr Meles was due to address Ethiopia’s parliament at the beginning of the month,
when the country’s MPs were to approve Ethiopia’s budget, but the appearance
was also cancelled.
A Western diplomat told the Telegraph that reports on Ethiopian opposition websites
claiming he had died were wrong. “Mr Zenawi is in Brussels receiving
treatment,” he said. “Rumours that he has died are not correct.”
A spokesman for Belgium’s Foreign Ministry said it had not officially been informed
he was in the country. “We cannot discuss his presence or his health,
that’s something for the Ethiopian embassy or his family,” he added.
Mr Zenawi has been the Prime Minister of Ethiopia since 1995, before which he
was the president from 1991 to 1995. Ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries
in the world and a major recipient of Western aid, but it also has one of
its fastest growing economies.
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