Zardari hospitalised in Dubai for tests

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari is being treated in a Dubai hospital and results of investigations done so far are “e sentially within normal limits and his condition is stable”, Pakistan envoy to the UAE said on Wednesday.

Zardari flew into Dubai late on Tuesday evening, accompanied by his personal physician Col Salman, Petroleum Minister Asim Hussain and a limited number personal staff.

Ambassador Jamil Ahmed Khan said a routine evaluation of the president’s health is being carried out at the hospital, and he is being checked for an existing heart condition. “He will remain at the hospital until the investigations are complete,” Khan told Khaleej Times.

Zardari’s sister, MNA Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, also visited him at the hospital.

According to the president’s personal physician, the medical tests are of routine nature and are linked to a previously diagnosed cardiovascular condition.

A statement from the Prime Minister House in Islamabad said on Wednesday the president went to Dubai following symptoms related to his heart condition but after the initial medical tests, doctors found him to be in a stable condition. “The doctors are yet to determine whether president’s condition was due to adverse reaction to the medication he was taking or a development related to his pre-existing cardiac condition.

“The president will remain under observation and return to resume his normal functions as advised by the doctors,” the statement from PM House said.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), met Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani in Islamabad on Wednesday at the Prime Minister House. Bilawal said the president went to Dubai at the insistence of his children.

A Dubai-based leader of the PPP, Mian Munir Hans, said that Zardari’s plane landed in Dubai at around 7.30pm on Tuesday and he went straight from the airport in his car to the American Hospital for the check-up.

He was taken in through the emergency entrance of the hospital and investigations continued till 12.30am, Hans said. Sources close to Zardari said that he is admitted to a room in the same block which has intensive care facilities.

An assistant to the American Hospital’s CEO, when contacted, refused to give any information about Zardari. “Please don’t call us on this issue. We do not know anything about it,” she said.

In addition to Ambassador Khan and Hans, a few people from Dubai had reached the hospital on Tuesday night, including close family friends Dr Ghani Ansari and Owais Tappi.

A team of doctors from the Iranian Hospital in Dubai also met Zardari at the Dubai Airport. Dr Abid Ali of the Iranian Hospital said Zardari was admitted to the hospital in 2006 suffering from a heart condition after his release from the prison in Pakistan. “At that time, we did not have the angiography facility, so he was referred to another hospital. He is now hospitalised for re-evaluation of his condition,” he said.

Our Islamabad correspondent adds:

The episode triggered wild speculations in the country and abroad causing panic about President Zardari’s ability to continue in office. A foreign magazine even speculated that he may resign from his job sending shockwaves within the ruling coalition, particularly the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) because of the central position the president enjoys as party head, besides remaining fountain of all power even after the adoption of 18th Amendment. It exposed the fragility of the existing civilian order that is facing seemingly unending challenges.

Conflicting government response to media reports enormously added to the confusion. A junior minister, who had nothing to do with the presidential affairs, came out with a flimsy explanation and even told reporters that the president would return to Islamabad on Thursday. Interior minister Rehman Malik came out with his own version that only revealed the serious nature of president’s ailment.

Prime Minister Gilani characteristically tried to repudiate reports that President Zardari was facing any serious condition. He claimed that Zardari’s children had compelled him to travel to Dubai for medical checkup. Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar, who enjoys great credibility, woke up to the gravity of the speculations and dismissed as “untrue, imaginary and speculative”, the reports that the president has any intention to step down because of poor health.

The event had an importance of its own and much damage could have been averted by timely official notification from the Presidency instead of allowing the media to indulge in guess work.

• UAE
• Dubai
• Pakistan