President dos Santos returns home after health checks
Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos applauding at the opening ceremony of the 31st Southern African Development Community summit in Luanda on August 17, 2011. PHOTO | STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN | AFP
What you need to know:
- Dos Santos’s medical condition has recently been subject to fierce speculation, with his daughter Isabel forced to deny rumours that he had died while in Spain.
- MPLA party confirmed for the first time on Monday that dos Santos had undergone medical checks while in Spain on an extended “private visit”.
LUANDA
Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who has been dogged by reports of poor health, has returned to Luanda after nearly a month in Spain, party officials said Tuesday.
Dos Santos’s medical condition has recently been subject to fierce speculation, with his daughter Isabel forced to deny rumours that he had died while in Spain.
Anastacio de Brito, spokesman for the ruling MPLA party, told AFP that the 74-year-old president arrived back in Angola on Monday evening.
The party confirmed for the first time on Monday that dos Santos had undergone medical checks while in Spain on an extended “private visit”.
HISTORIC CHANGE
Dos Santos, who has been in power since 1979, will not contest an election in August, marking a historic change in the oil-rich country.
He has reportedly received cancer treatment in Barcelona over several years.
Defence Minister Joao Lourenco has emerged as Dos Santos’s chosen successor and is on course to take power after the election.
Opposition parties have called for the government to be more transparent about the president’s health.
