HARARE - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is in Singapore for a medical review after undergoing a cataract operation there last month, but is expected to come home before his birthday next week, state media reports
Mugabe, one of Africa's longest- serving leaders who turns 87 on February 21, last month dismissed as "naked lies" media reports that he had undergone an operation for a prostate problem in Malaysia.
Mugabe spent a month-long holiday in Singapore with his family from the end of December.
"He went for a review following a small medical procedure he underwent while on holiday," Mugabe's spokesperson George Charamba said in the Sunday Mail.
"He had a cataract in his eye, so that was removed and he was asked to return by opticians."
A cataract is clouding of the eye lens that affects sight, usually in older people, and can lead to blindness.
Mugabe has been in power since 1980, but was forced to form a power-sharing government with his arch-rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, in February 2009 after a disputed re-election in 2008.
Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has nominated him as its candidate for presidential elections he wants to hold this year. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change says a poll could lead to a bloodbath.
A dozen people were injured in clashes between supporters of Zanu-PF and MDC in the past two weeks, and a Zanu-PF mob looted shops in Harare last week.
Mugabe sees clearly now
HARARE - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is in Singapore for a medical review after undergoing a cataract operation there last month, but is expected to come home before his birthday next week, state media reports
Mugabe, one of Africa's longest- serving leaders who turns 87 on February 21, last month dismissed as "naked lies" media reports that he had undergone an operation for a prostate problem in Malaysia.
Mugabe spent a month-long holiday in Singapore with his family from the end of December.
"He went for a review following a small medical procedure he underwent while on holiday," Mugabe's spokesperson George Charamba said in the Sunday Mail.
"He had a cataract in his eye, so that was removed and he was asked to return by opticians."
A cataract is clouding of the eye lens that affects sight, usually in older people, and can lead to blindness.
Mugabe has been in power since 1980, but was forced to form a power-sharing government with his arch-rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, in February 2009 after a disputed re-election in 2008.
Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has nominated him as its candidate for presidential elections he wants to hold this year. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change says a poll could lead to a bloodbath.
A dozen people were injured in clashes between supporters of Zanu-PF and MDC in the past two weeks, and a Zanu-PF mob looted shops in Harare last week.
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