ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s long-time ruler who held tight control over this East African country but was a major U.S counter-terrorism ally, died of an undisclosed illness after not being seen in public for weeks, Ethiopian authorities announced Tuesday. He was 57.
Meles died Monday just before midnight after contracting an infection, state TV said. Apparently, he was abroad for medical treatment. Officials had expected Meles to return to Ethiopia but a sudden complication reversed what had been a good recovery, he said.
Meles hadn’t been seen in public for about two months. In mid-July, after Meles did not attend a meeting of heads of state of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, speculation increased that his health problems were serious. Ethiopian officials gave no details and said the prime minister was in “very good” health and would return to office soon, but international officials said quietly it was unlikely he would recover.
Other African leaders who have died suddenly in recent months:
July 24, 2012 – John Atta Mills, Ghana’s president, died a few hours after suddenly being taken ill, a statement from the president’s office and officials said.
Apr 6, 2012 – Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika suffered sudden fatal heart attack at 78-year-old’s.
January 9, 2012 – Guinea-Bissau’s President Malam Bacai Sanha, 64, died in hospital in Paris, according to a statement from his office read over national radio. He had gone to France for medical treatment in late November after being taken seriously ill.
2011 – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was murdered by NATO-backed al Quaeda forces masked as Libyan freedom-fighters. Sharia law has replaced Gaddafi’s non-secular rule of law.
2010 – Nigeria’s Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
2009, Omar Bongo of Gabon.
2008, Zambia’s Levy Mwanawasa and Guinea’s Lansana Conté.
Mugabe is reportedly seriously ill with cancer.