Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Tsvangirai falls sick, airlifted to hospital

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has suffered severe vomiting after a party meeting on Saturday and was airlifted from Harare to a Johannesburg hospital.

According to a senior party source, Tsvangirai’s condition was currently stable, adding that the sudden illness did not relate to Tsvangirai’s ongoing cancer treatment.

The 65-year-old’s symptoms came on suddenly while at a meeting of his main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Thursday evening in Kadoma, a city around 160 km (100 miles) southwest of the capital Harare, the source said. 

He was taken to hospital on Friday, the source added.

Tsvangirai, who leads a broad coalition of opposition parties, is due to challenge his long-time political foe President Robert Mugabe at next year's general election.

Tsvangirai said last year that he was being treated for colon cancer.

Two other Zimbabwean political sources confirmed the details of his illness and move to South Africa.

(Reuters)