Zambian officials dispel media reports that President Levy Mwanawasa has
died in France where he is under going medical treatment after suffering a
stroke. Chief government spokesperson Mike Mulongoti says Mwanawasa is alive
and still undergoing treatment.

LUSAKA, ZAMBIA (JULY 03, 2008) REUTERS-
 Zambia denied on Thursday (July 3) media reports that President Levy
Mwanawasa had died, saying he was in a stable condition in a Paris
hospital.
      "The president is still alive, he is in hospital in Paris,
France and we just had confirmation from the people on the bedside who have
confirmed that he is there, he is making steady progress,"  Zambian Chief
Government spokesperson and Information Minister, Mike Mulongoti told Reuters.

    Mulongoti appeared on Zambian Television to tell the public Mwanawasa
was not dead. 
    The confusion began earlier on Thursday, when South Africa's Talk Radio
702 reported that Mwanawasa had died, quoting a Zambian High Commission
spokesman.
    South African President Thabo Mbeki told reporters he had been informed
by the executive secretary of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) that Mwanawasa had died. 
    Mbeki called for a minute's silence while attending a remembrance
ceremony in Pretoria for victims of a recent wave of xenophobic attacks in
South Africa. 
    Mwanawasa, 59, an outspoken critic of Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe, was rushed to hospital on Sunday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm
el-Sheikh after suffering a stroke just before an African Union summit. He was
later transferred to Paris for treatment.
    Mulongoti said the rumours were unfortunate and malicious, "We
expect people to be sensitive to issues like that because the death of a
president of a republic is a serious matter and in so doing they can cause a
lot of panic and anguish in the minds of Zambian people.  
    His illness sidelined one of Mugabe's chief regional critics during the
recent African Union summit at which the veteran Zimbabwean leader suffered
unprecedented condemnation from some of his peers, including another
neighbour, Botswana. 
    The Zambian leader is a favourite of the International Monetary Fund
and other Western donors, who extended billions of dollars in debt relief
after he cracked down on government spending and launched an anti-graft drive.
He suffered a mild stroke in 2006 but said before being re-elected that year
that he was fit to stand for office.